A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE WORLD 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

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A BRIEF HISTORY OF 
THE WORLD 



With Especial Reference to Social 
and Economic Conditions 



BY 



GEORGE WILLIS BOTSFORD 

PROFESSOR OF HISTORY IN COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY; AUTHOR 

OF " A HISTORY OF GREECE," " A HISTORY OF ROME," 

" A HISTORY OF THE ANCIENT WORLD," " A 

SOURCE BOOK OF ANCIENT HISTORY," ETC. 

AND 

JAY BARRETT BOTSFORD, A.M. 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
1917 

All rights reserved 



!> 



^f 



Copyright, 1917, 
Bv THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. 

Set up and electrotyped. Published August, 1917. 



AUG 23 1917 



NotiDonly $kss , \ 
J. S. dishing Co. — Berwick & Smith Co. 
Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. 



>GI. A 4 7 3 1 8 4 



PREFACE 

This volume aims to provide a course of study for schools 
which give but a year to European history or which desire a 
general survey as a basis for more detailed work. The increas- 
ing interest in social and economic history has led the authors 
to emphasize these features. In this book, accordingly, military 
history is reduced to a minimum ; the treatment of government 
and administration keeps in view their effect on the welfare of 
the people ; and the condition and customs of the various social 
classes are given great prominence. In these respects the book 
opens to secondary schools a field of historical study quite new 
to them. 

The volume has purposely been made brief in order that 
pupils may have the more time for collateral reading. The 
"Topics for Reading," calling attention to representative books, 
should serve merely as examples. It will be an easy matter for 
the instructor to make up other topics from the available works. 
The "Review" is mainly to direct the pupil's attention to the 
more important facts given in the text. Ability to discriminate 
between the relevant and the irrelevant, to speak or write with- 
out digression on the subject in hand, should be one of the 
chief aims of education. The "Additional Studies" call for 
some degree of original thought in combining facts, drawing 
inferences, and expressingMpmiohs/, With discriminative power 
should be associated, as a most "valuable object of education, 
the ability to construct, to gather facts from various sources 
and combine them in a unity of thought. For the cultivation 
of these powers history affords an especially productive field. 

Great labor and pains have been devoted to the collection 
of material for illustrations appropriate to the text. The 
authors gladly acknowledge their obligations to the volumes 



vi Preface 

that have aided in this work, and especially to Traill's "Social 
England" and Parmen tier's "Album historique" for their 
citation of illustrated books and of collections. 

Professor C. J. H. Hayes of Columbia University has read 
the part of the volume beginning with the nineteenth chapter, 
and various improvements are due to him. The authors thank 
him sincerely for his aid, while they wish to make it clear that 
he is in no way responsible for any statement of fact or opinion 
contained in the book. They wish, too, to acknowledge the 
courteous help of Miss Adele M. Erb and Miss Isadore G. 
Mudge of Columbia University Library in facilitating the use 
of books for the preparation of this volume. 

THE AUTHORS. 

Mount Vernon, New York, 
June ii, 1917. 



CONTENTS 



BOOK I 



ANCIENT HISTORY 



I. Beginnings - 

II. The Orient 

III. Early Greece 

IV. Religion and Intelligence in Greece 
V. Athens in the Age of Pericles 

VI. The Later Progress of Greek Civilization 

VII. The Growth of the Roman Empire 

VIII. The Growth of Roman Civilization 

IX. The Principate and the Monarchy 

X. The Decline of the Roman Empire 

XL The Germans 

XII. Christianity . . . 



i 
10 

3i 
46 

54 

73 

87 

103 

112 

135 
146 

154 



BOOK II 

THE MIDDLE AGES 

XIII. The Frankish Kingdom and the Empire of Charlemagne 165 

XIV. Feudalism 175 

XV. The Papacy and the New States 182 

XVI. Life in Country and Town 202 

vii 



Vlll 



Contents 



BOOK III 

THE MODERN 'WORLD 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XVII. The Renaissance 234 

XVIII. Economic Changes in the Period of the Hundred 

Years' War 253 

XIX. Discoveries and Explorations ; the Supremacy of 

Spain 269 

XX. The Protestant Revolt on the Continent . . . 286 

XXI. Social Life in France 309 

XXII. England under Henry VIII and Elizabeth . .327 

XXIII. England in the Seventeenth Century . . . 339 

XXIV. The Struggle for World Empire . . . .356 
XXV. The Age of Despots 377 

XXVI. The French Revolution and Napoleon . . . 392 

XXVII. The Industrial Revolution 409- 

XXVIII. Growth of Nationality 423 

XXIX. Recent Imperialism 452 

XXX. Social Reform and General Progress . . .481 



Useful Books 
Index 



500 
S°4 



MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS 



FULL-PAGE AND DOUBLE-PAGE MAPS 

before 



The Orient 

Greece in the Age of Pericles 

The Roman Empire at its Greatest Extent 

Europe in the Middle Ages 

Western Europe about 1400 

Discoveries, 1400-1600 .... 

Religions of Central Europe about 1555- • 

Europe after the Peace of Westphalia, 1648 

Central and Western Europe about 1900 . 

Expansion of the United States 

Colonial Possessions of the European Powers, 1914 



7 
73 
9i 
153 
217 
269 
297 

307 
427 
441 
453 



MAPS IN THE TEXT 

The World according to Hecataeus . . . . . . -52 

The Three-field System . 207 

Italy in the Renaissance 235 

Spanish Empire under Charles V . . . ... .282 

Napoleonic Empire, 1810 4°4 

Southeastern Europe about 1914 433 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

Cave Dwellers 4 

Primitive Fire-Kindling 4 

Primitive Hut 5 

Egyptian Market-Scenes J 3 

Egyptian Brickmakers 15 

ix 



Illustrations 



Temple of Ammon at Thebes 

Mummy of Rameses II 

Egyptian Writing 

Babylonian Writing . 

The Temple of Jehovah 

A Phoenician Ship of War and Trade 

Ancestors of Some of the Letters of our Alphabet 

Minoan Women 

A Minoan Dagger 

Bezel of a Gold Ring 

Warriors . 

Mycenaean Wall 

An Athletic Girl of Sparta 

Heavy- armed Warrior 

Apollo with a Cithara 

Prophetess of Apollo . 

Wrestlers . 

Athenian Peasants Going to Market 

A Doric Woman 

A School . 

The Acropolis 

Sophocles . 

Pericles 

An Athenian Trireme 

A Metope of the Parthenon 

Pediment . 

Athena Parthenos 

The Parthenon . 

Country Dwelling of a Wealthy Greek 

Socrates . 

The Hermes of Praxiteles 

The Satyr of Praxiteles 

Alexander . 

A Greek Pipe Organ . 

A Greek Steam Boiler 

Apollo Belvedere 

Roman Soldiers Marching 



Illustrations 



XI 



A Catapult , 

A Fisherman .... 

Cicero . . 

Julius Caesar .... 

A Youth Reading 

Temple to Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva 

The Basilica Julia 

Octavianus .... 

The Genius of Augustus . 

A Street in Pompeii . 

The Claudian Aqueduct . 

The Peristyle .... 

A Roman Bath .... 

A Grain Mill .... 

A Gold Coin of the Empire 

A Country House, Villa, of the Late Empire 

A German Village 

German Women 

German Soldier 

The Good Shepherd . 

Old Basilica of St. Peter . 

St. Jerome Chastising the Lion 

A Benedictine Abbot 

A Frankish Chief 

A Saracen Army on the March 

A Frankish Villa 

Priest ..... 

Norman (Northman) Ship 

A Donjon 

Charlemagne as a Feudal Lord 

A Knight 

The Pope as a Feudal Lord 

Emperor ..... 

A Byzantine House . 

The Mosque of Omar 

A Mohammedan School at Cairo 

Crusaders Marching . 



Xll 



Illustrations 



Church of the Holy Sepulchre 

Mediaeval Coiners 

Mediaeval Cooks 

A Castle . 

A Noble . 

Strolling Musicians 

A Manor House 

A Dominican Friar 

Cloisters . 

Christ Church College, Oxford 

City Hall at Ypres, Belgium 

Cologne Cathedral 

Milan Cathedral 

A Mediaeval Armorer 

A Country Fair 

Old English Bridge . 

A Genoese Merchant 

Kublai Khan 

Venice in the Fifteenth Century 

Doge (Duke) of Venice 

Venetian Coin . 

A Florentine Woman 

A Florentine Magistrate . 

The Cathedral of Florence 

The Old Palace, Florence . 

A Sculptor's Studio . 

The Sistine Madonna 

Raphael .... 

Christ . 

David . . . 

Tower of Pisa . 

Gutenberg's Printing Press 

A Squire and a Crossbowman 

Cannons in Action 

Joan of Arc 

The Estates General . 

Pillage of a Captured City 



Illustrations xiii 



PAGE 



Manor House and Field Labor . . . . . . . 261 

A Flemish Warping Machine 262 

Calicut 271 

Portuguese Governor of India 272 

Court of the Lions . . 274 

Magellan's Ship 277 

Spaniards Battling with Aztecs 278 

San Jose Mission . '280 

Negro Miners " 281 

Nuremberg 288 

German Peasants on the Estate of a Count .... 289 

German Peasants in Holiday Attire 291 

University of Erfurt 292 

A Papal Bull 293 

A Printing Office 294 

A Dilapidated Home . 310 

A Swineherd and his Flock 313 

A Schoolroom 315 

A Poor Man and Boy 316 

A Bourgeois Marriage Contract 317 

Parisian Types , 318 

A Street in Paris 319 

A Potter at Work . . . 320 

A French Tavern 321 

Governess and Pupil . . . . . . . -323 

A Patient and Two Physicians . . . - . . . .324 

Queen Elizabeth 329 

Silk Winding . . . . 330 

A Peasant's House 331 

Rich Man and Poor Man 332 

Elizabethan Coin 333 

The Battle with the Armada 335 

Raleigh's House at Youghal . . ... . . 336 

A Nonconformist Minister 340 

A Rural Scene 345 

A Coffee-House . . . 347 

Newswoman . 348 



xiv Illustrations 

PAGE 

A Lady of the Court ........ 350 

A Woman of the Middle Class 350 

A Stage . 35! 

John Milton 352 

The Returning Christian . . . . . . .353 

A Schoolroom . ^$4. 

Hyder Ali Khan ,6o 

Poultry Seller ^ T 

Chimney Sweeps 362 

A Colonial Mansion 363 

The Founding of a Colony ^65 

A Nosegay Macaroni ........ 368 

The Bird of Paradise 360 

A Minute Man 374 

Versailles 3 yo 

Russian Peasants . 387 

Queen Marie Antoinette . . . . . . . .399 

The Taking of the Bastille ...:... 4.00 

A Guillotine , 02 

By the Fireside ■ , 409 

Arkwright's Spinning Jenny . 4IO 

Cartwright's Power Loom 4II 

A Digester , _ 4I2 

Newcomen's Engine 4I , 

A Watt Engine 4I4 

An Old Method of Transportation 4 i6 

Telford's Bridge . . . 4I y 

The Rocket 4I ^ 

Bridgewater Canal 4I 8 

The Clermont ■ . . . _ 4I n 

The Aquitania ■ _ 4I n 

A Peon Ploughing ■ . . . . 43 6 

A Continental 43 n 

The Constitution . . .442 

The Cotton Gin 440 

Cowboy and Steer 447 

Japanese Artists 470 



Illustrations 



XV 



An Old Examination Hall 
Panama Canal ..... 
A Mine Worker .... 

Concourse in the Pennsylvania Station 
A Motor Lifeboat .... 
The First Airplane . . . r . 
A Steam Plough .... 
The Mixing Room in Ward's Bakery 
An Observation Car .... 



PAGE 

472 
476 
481 
492 

493 
494 
495 
496 
497 



A BRIEF HISTORY OF 
THE WORLD 



BOOK I 
ANCIENT HISTORY 

CHAPTER I 

BEGINNINGS 
I. Introduction 

i. The Use of History. — We read and study history in 
order to know how the world came to be what it is to-day. 
What took place yesterday and the days before that, is his- 
tory for the people now living. We cannot live without a 
knowledge of the past. Our ability to supply ourselves with 
the necessities of life is dependent upon our experience, and our 
experience is history. If by some great misfortune we were 
to be deprived of all knowledge of the past, we should be like 
a ship at sea without a rudder or a compass. For what we do 
to-day and are going to do to-morrow is based on what our 
ancestors have done before us. If, for example, our knowledge 
of the steam-engine and its uses were taken away from us, we 
should feel almost helpless. Yet such knowledge is a part of 
history. 

2. The Complexity of Modern Life. — The complexity of 
the modern world astonishes us when once we begin to enu- 
merate the various elements of our civilization: for example, 

B I 



2 Beginnings 

the paving of roads, the repair and cleaning of them, the pro- 
tection of the community by the police and courts, the army of 
government officials occupied in caring for the health and gen- 
eral welfare of the people. Life in the country, as contrasted 
with that of the city, has merely the appearance of being more 
simple. Even there we must take into account various forms 
of landholding, the breeding of stock, the raising of grain, and 
the growing of fruit. The whole agricultural industry is now 
carried on by machinery, some of which is intricate in design. 
How any of these things came to be what they are is a query 
which finds an answer nowhere but in the study of history. 

Still more wonderful are the means of transportation and 
communication between peoples located in all quarters of the 
globe. The growth of large cities, the methods of building, 
the processes of manufacture, the spread of news by frequent 
editions of newspapers from rotary printing presses, the exist- 
ence of handsome churches, the presence of schools, the dif- 
ferences in social standing and in wealth, as well as in political 
rights, — and even those things which we take for granted be- 
cause they seem so necessary, such as family, property, society, 
and state, — are all subjects for which the citizen of to-day, 
in order to be intelligent, must seek an explanation in the his- 
tory of the past. 

3. The Past Explains the Present. — Some of us actually 
know by having lived through many years that present condi- 
tions did not always exist. There are persons living who re- 
member the time when, before the laying of the Atlantic cable, 
communication across the ocean was possible in no other way 
than by ship. As we begin thus to go back gradually for the 
explanation of first one thing and then another, we find our- 
selves drawn farther and farther into the past. Many features 
of modern life, especially the improvements due to scientific 
invention and the political and commercial relations of coun- 
tries to one another, can be made sufficiently clear by a study of 
the past two or three centuries. For such topics as the simpler 
sciences, the more common useful arts, the fine arts, religion, 
society, government, — in brief, for the great essentials of civil- 



The Study of Civilization 3 

ized life, — we must pass immeasurably farther back. Our 
search for beginnings leads us finally to the remote age when 
men were savage. How through the labor of thousands of years 
they have created the life of to-day will be told in this book. 

II. The Beginnings oe Civilized Liee 

4. Why Nations Differ in Civilization. — The word civili- 
zation, used above, has reference to the progress of mankind 
beyond the condition of savages. Those nations are most 
civilized which have the best homes, society, laws, and govern- 
ment, the most advanced science and art, the purest religion, 
the soundest morals, and the brightest minds. Improvements 
along these lines are made by nations as well as by persons in 
no other way than through well-directed effort. In looking 
over the present world we find the people of different countries 
varying greatly in their manner of living. This variety is 
owing to the fact that some nations improve faster than others, 
and that the progressive nations do not all develop in the same 
direction. Naturally we think of America, England, Bel- 
gium, France, and some other European countries as the most 
advanced in the modern world, and for examples of savages 
we look to central Australia or central Africa. 

5. How We Learn of the Remote Past. — If we wish to know 
what progress mankind has achieved from the beginning, and 
how the various peoples of history have aided this develop- 
ment, we must first try to discover the earliest condition of the 
human race. One help in our search is the study of the bar- 
barous and savage peoples of the present and near past. Their 
manner of life, as scholars believe, closely resembles that of 
early mankind. Another is the excavation of places which 
have been occupied by villages or cities through thousands of 
years. So little attention was paid to street-cleaning in most 
ancient settlements that in the course of a few generations, or 
at most few centuries, a village or city literally buried itself in 
refuse.; and whenever a fire happened to destroy all or nearly 
all the houses, the survivors built their new dwellings on the 



Beginnings 




Cave Dwellers 

Old stone age. Reconstructed from scien- 
tific data. From Smithsonian report. The 
man, wearing a beast's hide about the waist, 
has evidently come in from a hunt. The 
women are at work. The one in full view 
wears a skirt made of an animal's hide. 



debris. In this way the people of each successive age left 
some of the works of their hands buried beneath the dwellings of 

those who followed them. 
In recent years many 
scholars have busied them- 
selves with excavating the 
sites of ancient cities in 
Egypt, Babylonia, Greece, 
and other countries. The 
deeper explorers dig, the 
more crude they find the 
products of human labor. 
The lowest settlements 
were occupied by people 
whose life was scarcely 
more advanced than that 
of the Indians along the 
Atlantic coast in the colo- 
nial period. From an examination of the homes, tombs, and 
other works of these earliest-known ancients, and a comparison 
with the non-progressive races of the present, we may come to 
a fairly definite knowledge of the infancy of mankind. 

6. Earliest Condition of Mankind. — Doubtless there was a 
time when men lived no better than animals. They had no 
family life, no society or government, no homes, clothing, or 
tools. Not knowing how to 
make a fire, they lived on 
wild fruit, nuts, and raw 
meat. The trees and caves 
were their only shelter. In 
the history of the world 
there has been no greater 
discovery than how to kin- 
dle and to use a fire. In 
time men learned to make 
rude stone weapons and tools, to build huts, to raise. a few 
vegetables and a little grain, and to domesticate animals. Grad- 





PEiMiTrvE Fire-kindling 

By friction ; methods still in use among 
barbarous tribes. 



First Steps in Civilization 5 

ually, too, they developed the family and home life, and they 
gathered in villages, which they surrounded with walls as a 
protection from wild beasts and human enemies. 

7. Beginnings of Government and Society. — In the earliest 
times of which we have knowledge human beings- tended to 
cling together in groups ; and like cattle or sheep they instinc- 
tively followed that one among them who displayed the qualities 
of leadership (§11). They made him their chief or king, and 
in that way government was established. Meantime the rela- 
tions between one person and another came to be regulated 
by customs which gradually grew up. Such 
customs are the habits of a community 
formed unconsciously like the habits of a 
person. The chief or king saw that they 
were obeyed, and sometimes introduced new 
rules, which were called laws. Countless 
centuries must have passed in this develop- 
ment from the creation of man to the vil- 
lage life, whose crude stone tools, handmade Pr)V|I Tiv ( . m . t 
pottery, and rough walls have been un- „ T .,, . 

, . , . . ,. With one room and 

earthed by explorers in various parts of the . door, here represented 
world. This period before any of the metals b y an urn for the ashes 

1 , . . ,, , . , of the dead. Early iron 

had come into use is called the stone age. age of Etruria and La _ 

8. Two Pioneers of Civilization. — When tium. Olcott Collection, 
we inquire why the inhabitants of certain Columbia University. 
parts of the earth still remain in a crude condition of life, 
whereas others have made varying degrees of progress, we 
shall find a great part of the answer in the surroundings of 
each people. The more favorable is the environment, the 
greater the opportunity for progress. No other place in the 
world has been so well situated in this respect as the valleys 
of the three great rivers, the Nile, the Tigris, and the Eu- 
phrates, in the region which lies about the eastern end of 
the Mediterranean. On the reference map of the Orient 
we see the Nile flowing northward into the Mediterranean, 
and the Tigris and Euphrates flowing in a south-easterly 
direction, in a single valley, and joining in one stream before 




6 Beginnings 

emptying into the Persian Gulf. These valleys are alike in 
important respects. The climate is mild. The soil is always 
well-watered, for every year the rivers overflow the plain on 
both sides. When the flood returns to its channel, it leaves 
the land fertilized with a rich coat of fresh, moist earth, so 
that it is wonderfully productive. 

These conditions are favorable to improvement. The people 
in these countries never had to struggle hard for mere existence, 
as do those of cold or barren regions. In their warm climate 
little effort was required to obtain clothing and to build suit- 
able houses. The ease with which they could raise grain and 
vegetables tempted them to farming. The rivers formed a 
ready means of trade between one town and another, while in 
the case of Egypt the surrounding deserts and mountains helped 
protect the inhabitants from enemies. As the population in- 
creased through the natural growth of families and the immi- 
gration of strangers, who came from all quarters to enjoy the 
good country, it became necessary to produce more food and 
clothing and to build more houses and of larger size. At 
the same time the people in social intercourse and trade de- 
veloped a taste for better and more beautiful things — in other 
words, they continually acquired a higher standard of living. 
The valley of the Nile is Egypt ; that of the lower Euphrates 
and Tigris is Babylonia. 

9. A Third Pioneer. — To these valleys we must add a third 
region whose population deserves equal credit as a pioneer of 
civilization. On the European side of the Mediterranean, 
northwest of Egypt, is the ^Egean sea, which separates the 
peninsula of Greece from Asia Minor. The sea is sprinkled 
with islands and both coasts are well provided with harbors. 
This region of coasts and islands is far less fertile than Egypt ; 
but the little plains at the mouths of rivers, formed of mud 
brought down by the water, are remarkably productive. The 
climate is as pleasant as any in the world, and far more stimu- 
lating than that of Egypt. From earliest times, too, the har- 
bors and islands tempted the people to trade by sea. The 
inhabitants of the ^Egeari region during a long period of their 



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Three Pioneers of Civilization 7 

early history (about 3000-1200 B.C.) we call Mi-no'ans, after 
Mi'nos, a mythical king of that age. The Minoans must be 
counted along with the Egyptians and the Babylonians as one 
of the three earliest peoples to emerge from barbarism. 

Several times in the paragraphs above we have used the 
word " barbarism." In general the term means a want of 
civilization; as distinguished from " savagery," however, it 
signifies a condition somewhat more advanced than that of 
savages. When a people have acquired a knowledge of metals 
and have adopted a system of writing, they can no longer be 
called barbarians. 

10. Which Was the Earliest of the Three Pioneers? — 
Although scholars still differ as to whether Egypt or Babylonia 
preceded in civilization, the weight of evidence inclines in 
favor of the Nile valley. In the fourth millennium (4000- 
3000) B.C. the Egyptians had made noteworthy progress in 
various directions. They now had families, society, govern- 
ment, and a moral religion (§ 22). They irrigated their fields 
by means of canals. They built towns and cities. They had 
invented writing. From that time written material, contain- 
ing the names of kings and some knowledge of the people, has 
come down to us. Their astronomers discovered that the year 
consists of three hundred and sixty-five days, which they di- 
vided into twelve months. As early at least as 3500 b. c. they 
were employing copper in the useful arts. 

Scholars who thus consider Egypt to have been the earliest 
in the field of civilization place Babylonia and the ^Egean 
region a few centuries in the rear. The Minoans adopted 
the use of copper about 3000 B.C., and not long afterward 
they invented a system of writing. Life in each of the three 
regions was of native growth. There is no certain evidence of 
commerce between the two great valleys. Even from the stone 
age there was some interchange of wares between the ^Egean 
area and Egypt; but the native elements of Minoan life far 
outweigh all foreign influence. 



Beginnings 



Topics for Reading 

Clodd, Story of Primitive Man, and especially Childhood of the World, 
though intended for children, will be found exceedingly interesting and 
instructive also to older people. These two books may easily be read 
entire. See further Keith, Ancient Types of Man, which classifies 
prehistoric men according to existing remains of their skeletons. 

I. Antiquity of Man. — Clodd, Story of Primitive Man, ch. ii ; Keene, 
Ethnology, ch. iv; Haddon, History of Anthropology, ch. iv; Tylor, 
Anthropology, ch. i. 

II. The Races. — Clodd, Childhood of the World, ch. iv ; Keene, 
Ethnology, chs. viii, ix; The World's Peoples, especially ch. i; Tylor, 
ch. iii. 

III. The Stone Ages. — Clodd, Story of Primitive Man, chs. iii, iv; 
Childhood of the World, chs. vi, viii ; Duckworth, Prehistoric Man (chiefly 
on the primitive stone age and its antecedents) ; Keene, Ethnology, v, 
vi; Haddon, History of Anthropology, ch.- viii. 

IV. The Mental Growth of Man. — Clodd, Childhood of the World, 
pt. II (Man the Thinker) ; Keene, Ethnology, ch. iii ; Fiske, The Destiny 
of Man, chs. viii-xvi ; Boaz, The Mind of Primitive Man, entire work, 
especially ch. iv. 

Review 

i. What is the value of history to us? What should we do if we 
lost all knowledge of the past? What is history? 2. Enumerate 
the features of life in city and country which make our civilization 
complex. Where shall we go for an explanation of these things? 
3. Setting out from the present, what course do we take to reach the 
beginnings of history ? 4. What differences do we discover in present 
life among the peoples of the earth? To what are these differences 
due? 5. In what ways do we learn of the remote past? Why do we 
not study them from written records? 6. Describe the earliest con- 
dition of mankind. 7. What are customs and laws ? What is the origin 
of government? Define the stone age. 8. What parts of the earth 
were the first to become civilized, and why? What conditions aid the 
growth of civilization? 9. Where is the ^Egean sea? What advan- 
tages did the people of the ^gean area derive from their surroundings ? 
Define civilization. 

Additional Studies 

1. Which is the more useful, a narrative of wars or a history of the 
progress of mankind? 2. Why have not all peoples progressed equally 
and in the same direction (§ 4) ? 3- In what ways does our knowledge 
of ancient history continually increase? 4. How do the discoveries 



Studies 9 

and inventions mentioned in § 6 compare in value with the progress of 
the past hundred years? Give reasons for your opinion. 5. Who 
becomes the leader or chief of a primitive community? In any associa- 
tion of people of your neighborhood, in or out of school, what sort of 
person generally takes the lead? Compare these two kinds of leader- 
ship in origin and character. 6. Describe from the map the location 
of the Egyptians, Babylonians, and Minoans respectively. 7. Why 
were these three peoples in advance of all others? 8. Write an essay 
on one of the Reading Topics given above, making use of at least two 
books. Do not copy sentences or even phrases from the books, but 
ascertain the facts and present them in your own language. Attend 
carefully to spelling, punctuation, and the simple rules of rhetoric. 



CHAPTER II 

THE ORIENT 
I. Egypt 

ii. Leadership and Nobility. — Whenever a number of 
people, however rude and barbarous, live so near one another 
as to form a community, it always happens that the few wiser 
and more energetic persons make the improvements, which 
they teach to the rest. Among them there is usually one who 
excels, and assumes the leadership, as has been explained 
above (§ 7) . To be a leader a man must be self-confident, bold, 
enterprising, and clever. Where wars of defense or aggression 
are common, the man who has bravery, physical strength, 
and military skill naturally takes the lead of his fellows. Among 
a religious people like the Egyptians (§§ 22, 24) knowledge of 
the ceremonies used for securing the help of the gods is the 
greatest aid to gaining power. The people labor for their 
leader in time of peace and fight to win glory and booty for 
him in war. Hence he acquires great wealth, which is an addi- 
tional aid to power. He bequeaths his property and influence 
to his sons, who, if they are men of ability, are in a position to 
add power, riches, and reputation to their inheritance. In 
this way noble families arise above the general level. 

12. Oriental Leadership Becomes Absolute. — On hills and 
mountains and in forests, where a man can make a living for 
himself and his family without the help of neighbors, he learns 
to love freedom and can easily maintain it; but in the great 
plains of Egypt and Babylonia, where all had to cooperate in 
digging canals for drainage and irrigation, and where continual 
disputes about the boundaries of fields had to be settled by 



Government n 

some competent power, the leader of a community was al- 
lowed great authority for dispensing justice and for compelling 
every man to do his share of the cooperative work. Thus it 
happened that the ruler of every little community along the 
Nile got absolute power over his subjects. 

13. Pharaoh. — At first each small district, occupied by a 
community, was a state in itself, with its king and his officials, 
its army, taxes, religion, and chief priesthood ; but before 
3000 B.C. the lower valley of the Nile, extending through a 
length of seven hundred miles, came to be united by conquest 
in one state under a king, whose title was Pha'raoh. His 
power, too, became absolute. As the nobles in the various 
districts had taken the priesthoods, that they might enjoy the 
influence and wealth belonging to these offices, Pharaoh be- 
came the chief priest of all the nation. In fact he was himself 
regarded as a god on earth, and was worshipped by his subjects 
with much ceremony and flattery. The highest noble had to 
prostrate himself on his face in the presence of this awe-inspir- 
ing man-god. 

14. His Officials; his Empire. — Pharaoh surrounded 
himself with a large number of officials, some to administer 
justice, others to supervise the erection and care of the public 
works, or to make the biennial census and assessment of prop- 
erty throughout the kingdom, or to collect and manage the 
revenue. Each district had its local government and officials 
subject to Pharaoh. For thousands of years the Egyptians 
remained a peace-loving people, content with defending their 
own country from enemies ; but from about 1600 B.C. a line of 
able, warlike Pharaohs conquered Syria, the country between 
the Mediterranean and the Euphrates river (§ 36). The subject 
country was their empire. Pharaoh appointed a governor over 
it, placed garrisons in some of the cities, and compelled the 
native king of each city to pay an annual tribute. 

15. Social Classes: the Poor. — From what has been said 
it is clear that the government of Egypt was conducted chiefly 
in the interest of the king and his friends, who held all the val- 
uable offices and priesthoods (§ 24). We can see the daily 



12 The Orient 

lives not only of these great people but of all classes pictured on 
their monuments. Most of them were poor. A family of the 
lowest class of freemen lived in a mud house thinly roofed with 
palm leaves. As the climate was mild and as a generation often 
passed without rain, such a building lasted long and afforded 
sufficient shelter for the inhabitants. It contained no more 
than one or two rooms. Its furniture was a few stools, mats 
to sleep on, two flat stones for grinding grain, a chest for cloth- 
ing, a bin of hard clay for the provisions, and a few pots and 
pans. An opening in the roof above the hearth let out the 
smoke. A small, cheap image stood against the wall, ready 
to receive the family worship. 

1 6. A Life of Toil. — The family arose at daybreak that the 
father might be at his work at sunrise. All day long till sun- 
set he toiled excepting an hour at noon, when he ate the bread 
and onions he had brought with him for luncheon and took a 
short nap in the shade. In case he was working for the govern- 
ment, and lagged through weariness or illness, the overseer 
drove him to his task with a stick. All below Pharaoh, how- 
ever great their rank and wealth, were liable to be beaten by 
their superiors, and few magistrates even could boast of having 
escaped corporal punishment. 

If a man was a farmer, he rented a piece of ground from Pha- 
raoh, who owned all the land in Egypt. From the produce he 
had to pay the king a fixed number of measures for every acre. 
The gods, too, required their share. The officers of the king 
watched over him closely to see that he worked faithfully and 
concealed nothing that should go to the government or to 
religion. 

Although the law allowed polygamy, the poor man had but 
one wife. While he was away at his work, she was busy with 
her household duties. She carried water, spun, wove, made 
the family clothing, went to market to sell her eggs, butter, 
and the linen she had woven. She had many children, some 
of whom were sure to die young through lack of medicine and 
care. Those who grew to manhood and womanhood were 
usually well and strong. Poor people had little clothing. A 



Home and Toil 



13 



man wore a short pair of cotton trousers; his wife a simple, 
low-necked frock which reached the ankles. As the food, too, 
was simple, it cost little to bring up a large family ; and children 
were actually profitable as they began work at an early age. 
The wife managed the household, controlled the children, and 
was the equal of her husband. She went freely about the town 
and talked with whomsoever she pleased. 



I^\ >*R***%»V 




Egyptian Market Scenes 

I. A woman bringing two jars of perfumes to barter for wares. A woman with 
something in a box to trade for fish. II. A man bartering the contents of a jar 
for a necklace. III. The man on his knees seems to be selling bracelets and neck- 
laces; a woman, box in hand, has come to buy. A man selling fish-hooks. IV. A 
man with wheat and onions in a basket ; two purchasers — one with necklaces in 
hand, the other with a fan and a fire ventilator. 

17. Tradesmen. — The huts of the poor were crowded 
closely together along narrow, crooked lanes. The houses of 
the tradesmen were in another quarter. They were larger and 
better made and furnished. There were many trades. Car- 
penters lived near carpenters, and coppersmiths near copper- 
smiths, and so of the goldsmiths, shoemakers, weavers, bakers, 
confectioners, and all the others. These workmen generally 
retailed their own produce. 

In the market-place provisions were kept for sale in large 
baskets resting on the ground, and people brought various 



14 The Orient 

articles usually of their own make, to barter for grain, vege- 
tables, fish, and meat. Some brought rings of copper, silver, 
or gold. These metal pieces served poorly as money, for they 
varied in weight and purity. Near the provision market was 
the bazaar, in which were displayed for sale all kinds of manu- 
factured wares both native and imported from Nubia, Arabia, 
Babylon, Syria, and the islands of the ^Egean Sea. There 
were embroideries, fine linens, jewellery, scented woods and 
gums, coral and amber, glass ware and beautiful pottery. 
Though no law compelled it, the son usually learned the trade 
of the father. 

18. The Character of the Working Classes. — Men of the 
poor and middle classes were generally as sober as they were 
industrious ; but on holidays many sought the " beer-house," 
and drank to intoxication. Their wise men severely condemned 
drinking. The Egyptians had a lively imagination, a ready wit, 
and strong social inclinations. Often the workmen squandered 
their month's wages in a fortnight and were driven by starva- 
tion to strike. Often, too, they were so oppressed by the tax- 
collectors and their taskmasters that they quit work in a body. 
A fresh supply of provisions and the faintest promise of redress 
of their wrongs quieted them and sent them back to their work. 
They were a patient people, good-naturedly submitting to 
floggings and obedient to their superiors. They had bound- 
less reverence for the gods and especially for the god Pharaoh. 
Under these circumstances no other government than absolute 
monarchy was ever dreamed of. 

19. Task Work and Military Service. — When left to them- 
selves, they were moderately happy ; but when Pharaoh chose 
the strongest and best men to toil for him without pay in build- 
ing a pyramid or a temple, they felt it a grievous affliction. 
These extraordinary tasks alone would not have been unendur- 
able, but they came as additions to lesser labors which the 
government required every year of all workmen. These period- 
ical tasks included the digging of canals for irrigation, the build- 
ing of embankments along the Nile, the repair of roads, the 
transportation of Pharaoh's share of the crops from the farms 



Forced Labor ; the Army 



15 



to the Nile and thence down the river to his capital. These 
labors exhausted the strength of the population and left little 
energy either for recreation or for thought. 

Still harder was military service. Probably no other nation 
in history has been more unwarlike. A native writer com- 
pares the typical soldier to a trembling bird. The people 
shrank from the vast loss of life attending invasions of Nubia 
or Syria. When preparations were made for such an expedition, 
the peasants were forced into the army by flogging, amid the 
tears and wailing of their kinsfolk. As the natives were so 
poor material for the army, the king hired many soldiers from 




Egyptian Brickmakers 

Working under an overseer, who sits stick in hand, 
described in the text. 



Notice the men's dress, 



Libya, Greece, and other foreign lands. Such troops were 
mercenaries. Usually they brought their armor and weapons 
with them. To keep them in the country Pharaoh rented 
out to them farms on reasonable terms. His native troops he 
had to equip with bows and arrows, spears, shields, and other 
weapons and armor from his own arsenals. For hundreds of 
years there were no horses in Egypt, but early in the second 
millennium (2000-1000) B.C. they were brought in from Syria. 
Thereafter a part of Pharaoh's military force consisted of 
horses and chariots. From the Orient the use of the war 
chariot extended westward to Greece, Italy, and even to Brit- 
ain. 



1 6 The Orient 

20. Grades of Society. — Below the common free laborers 
were the slaves; above were the professional soldiers; higher 
in wealth and comfort the merchants and traders; and still 
higher the officials and priests. Generally the same men filled 
both offices and priesthoods. Many were the grades of of- 
ficials from the humblest scribe to the Prime Minister of 
Pharaoh. The latter office, we are told, was held for a time 
by Joseph the Hebrew. 

" And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the 
land of Egypt. And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put 
it upon Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put 
a gold chain about his neck ; and he made him to ride in the second 
chariot which he had ; and they cried before him, Bow the knee : and 
he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt." — Genesis xli. 41-43. 

Pharaoh's officers could be found not only in the king's court 
but in every nook and corner of the country. Their part in 
the government has already been mentioned (§ 14), whereas 
the priests will be further considered below in our study of the 
religion. 

21. Education. — People usually continued in the condition 
of life in which they were born, and children remained in that 
of their parents. But it was possible through education to 
rise in the world. If a boy showed remarkable talent and 
ambition, his parents might be sufficiently self-sacrificing to 
send him to school and pay his tuition. Entering as a mere 
child, he studied a little arithmetic and much writing. A 
man thus addresses his former teacher : "I was with thee since 
a child. Thou didst beat my back and thy instruction went 
into my ear." After learning to write well, he was placed as an 
apprentice under an official, where he learned the professional 
duties of the scribe. He was then sure of employment by a 
noble or priest or by the government; and with genius and 
industry he might rise to a place next to that of Pharaoh. 

22. Religion. — We cannot understand the Egyptian with- 
out making ourselves acquainted with his religion, which con- 
trolled his thoughts and actions. He believed in a countless 
number of good and evil spirits, each one of which lived in a 



Society, Education, Religion 17 

mountain or rock, a tree, spring, or river, a star, the moon, the 
sun, or some other object, as the soul lives in the body. Only 
the greater and more powerful of these spirits he looked upon 
as gods. His deities had the forms not only of men and women, 
but also of birds, fishes, crocodiles, cats, dogs, and cattle. In 
some districts the people thought of the sky as an immense 
cow, in others as a sea over which the sun-god daily rowed his 
bark from East to West. The Valley of the Nile — to them 
the whole world — was thought to be a huge giant outstretched, 
whose back produced their grain, vegetables, and cattle, fin 
their belief the god O-si'ris, once in the form of a great and 
good king, ruled kindly over the human race. But he was 
killed and cut in pieces by his brother Set, an evil god. I 'sis, 
wife of the deceased, gathering up the parts of the body, put 
them together with such skill and magic as to bring him to life 
again. He did not resume his place among men, however; 
but passing to the spirit world, he henceforth judged all souls 
that came thither from earth, admitting none but the good 
to eternal happiness. 1 From this story and in many other 
ways we learn that the Egyptians believed in a future life and 
in the ultimate triumph of justice. C 

\ Although their worship of animals seems to us repulsive and 
degrading, other features of their religion excite our admira- 
tion. It encouraged justice, honesty, purity, and other virtues. 
At the judgment seat of Osiris each soul before admission to 
eternal happiness was required to declare that he had not mur- 
dered, stolen, coveted the property of others, blasphemed the 
gods, given false testimony, or ill-treated his parents. Here are 
six great commandments as valid to-day as they were in Egypt 
five thousand years ago. \ 

23. The Temple. — The favor of the gods was expensive. 
Each deity lived in his temple even more sumptuously than the 
ruler in his palace. As the wealth of the king and the influence 
of the priests grew, the temples were built larger and larger, 
till in the second millennium (2000-1000) b.c. they attained 
the maximum of size and splendor. The chapel for the image 

1 This is one version of a myth that appears in many forms. 
C 



i8 



The Orient 



of the god was flanked by smaller chambers for his wife and son, 
both of them deities. The building contained rooms, too, 
for the storage of furniture, treasures, and sacred tools and 
vessels. In front of these apartments was an immense hall for 
public worship, and in front of that a great court partly open 
to the sky. Within both hall and court were gigantic colon- 
nades. 

The temple of Am'mon at Thebes, in that period the capital 
of Egypt, was the work of a succession of kings. When finished 
it was the most stupendous temple the world has known. 
Travelers still wonder at the grand ruins. The architects who 
planned such works, were masters of their art. Though ac- 




Temple of Ammon at Thebes 
Restoration. Described in the text. 



quainted with the arch, they preferred columns and piers for 
support, and straight beams for the roof. Through these means 
they were able to combine strength with simplicity, to which 
they added considerable beauty and finish. They were in fact 
the best architects of the world till they were surpassed by the 
Greeks. The artists had to decorate the walls and columns 
with paintings and inscriptions, and to chisel images of the gods 
and the king. The god demanded not only a goodly dwelling 
but also food, fine clothing, ornaments of gold and silver, 
jewels, furniture, vessels, and tools for his worship. The 
manufacture of all these things required a large number of 
industries and a great variety of skill. The desire to give the 
gods the best that human knowledge and training could produce 



Religion 19 

was throughout ancient history the strongest force at work for 
the advancement of civilization. 

24. How the Priests Gained Power and Wealth. — The god 
was worshipped with music, dancing, sacrifice, and other 
ceremonies. At first the service was so simple that anyone 
could perform it; but the priests made it continually more 
intricate so that they alone were acquainted with it ; they alone 
controlled the favor of their deity, and through it gained power 
for themselves. To each great god was assigned a large tract 
of land and other wealth, including a host of slaves who tilled 
his fields and tended his cattle. The estate was managed by 
the god's chief priest, who had under him as assistants a large 
number of officials of various grades. The priests were them- 
selves of many ranks, the highest being Pharaoh. They dressed 
in fine linen, bathed twice each day and twice in the night, and 
shaved their heads, faces, and entire bodies, to keep themselves 
as clean as possible. A Greek historian * tells us that " they 
enjoy good things not a few, for they do not consume or spend 
any of their own substance, but have sacred bread baked for 
them, and they each have a great quantity of beef and geese 
coming in to them every day and also wine of grapes is given 
them." They lived in the sacred buildings, drew their support 
from the temple revenues, and were free from taxes and military 
service. There is no wonder, then, that everyone longed to be 
a priest. 

25. Belief in a Future Life. — Belief in a future life, as has 
been intimated (§ 22), formed a prominent part of the religion 
of the Egyptians. Although they imagined a world of departed 
spirits beneath the earth, or in the West, or in the sky, they 
took great care to preserve the dead body. They embalmed 
it that it might never decay; for its preservation was neces- 
sary to the life of the soul. The embalmed body is called a 
mummy. On p. 20 is pictured the mummy of one of their 
greatest Pharaohs, now preserved in the museum of Cairo, 
Egypt. The poor had to satisfy themselves with simple graves ; 
but every noble and every king built as strong and great a 

1 Herodotus ii. 37. 



20 



The Orient 



tomb as he could afford, and set aside a considerable part of his 
wealth to maintain there the worship of his soul. The ruling 
class were content to live in relatively modest dwellings in 
order that the immortal gods and also their 
own everlasting mummies, each with its 
spirit, might dwell in grand, indestructible 
homes. Tombs and temples were therefore 
their greatest buildings. 

26. The Pyramids. — Of the many kinds 

of tombs the largest and most enduring are 

the pyramids, erected by certain early kings 

to receive their own bodies. The greatest 

covers thirteen acres and was originally 

about four hundred and eighty feet high. 

Hidden far within and difficult of access is 

the chamber in which was placed the 

mummy of the builder. We are astonished 

not only at the immensity of the work as a 

whole, and at the size and weight of the 

limestone blocks which compose it, but also 

Mummy of Rameses II at the delicate accuracy of its construction. 

A famous Pharaoh of Religion was the motive which led to the 

the thirteenth century wor k_ Religion encouraged, too, the growth 

B.C. Cairo Museum. . , ° . . , , , i , • i 

of the astronomical and the mathematical 
knowledge needed in planning it. The same influence helped 
create the skill in organizing labor, in cutting, polishing, and 
conveying the stones, and all the practical engineering used in 
the building. 

27. Writing. — In the oldest system of writing each object 
was represented by a picture. Not content with this rude be- 
ginning, however, the Egyptians also adopted signs for single 
sounds; but as they continued to mix their old picture signs 
with their new characters for sounds, they fell far short of 
creating a phonetic alphabet. Gradually they simplified the 
old system in such a way as to form a " running hand " for busi- 
ness and everyday affairs. As the earlier characters continued 
to be used by priests for religious purposes, they were called 




Writing and Literature 



21 



'&&'' 

'//%* 



i ° 

6M 



D 



I 



9 D 



9 



D 

AWW 

-Ox 



* 



F=3 



A° 






If 



hieroglyphs — sacred inscriptions — especially appropriate for 
carving on walls, columns, and obelisks. Their paper they 
made of pa-py'rus, a reed which grew abundantly along 
the Nile. Though we use a different material, we have 
kept the name papyrus, merely giving it an English form 
— paper. 

28. Literature. — The Egyptians inscribed on monuments 
and wrote on papyrus the chief events of each year, works on 
medicine, religious texts, and moral proverbs and precepts. 
Kings, nobles, and wealthy com- 
moners, according to their 
means, took pleasure in having 
their achievements and virtues 
recorded on temple columns, or 
on the walls of tombs. There 
were also simple songs of the 
shepherds, the threshers, and 
other classes of laborers, and 
religious poems and hymns. In 
time they began to write stories 
for teaching some useful or moral 
lesson, tales of adventure for 
entertainment, and songs and 
stories of love. The myth of 
Osiris (§ 22) they worked into a 
drama, which was acted before 
the public. There were great 
numbers of business letters and documents. Most of this 
written material has perished ; much remains to be discovered ; 
but enough has been found to give us a clear knowledge of the 
life and achievements of these people through a period of more 
than four thousand years. 1 

29. The Mind is Dwarfed. — The Egyptians, who were so 
inventive, skilful, and intelligent, and who were once able to 



D 



A 






1 1 1 



r pe=> 

Ml 



m 







%& 



Egyptian Writing 



Containing many picture-signs. 



1 Relatively little writing belonging to the fifth millennium B.C. has been found; 
but it increases in volume as time goes on, and continues under the Roman empire 
down into the Christian era. 



22 The Orient 

conquer and rule over others, were at last conquered and ruled 
by others. 1 The reason is internal decay, as will now be ex- 
plained. It must first be noticed that the mind of the Egyptian 
was narrowly limited by his surroundings. He beheld nothing 
about him but a narrow plain bordered by gray stone hills. 
He rarely saw a cloud in the sky, or heard the thunder, or felt 
the rainfall. In this endless monotony his imagination, 
though lively, remained small, dwarfed. It led him but a little 
way beyond the material things of life — beyond his food, 
drink, clothing, and sleep. To him the future world was as 
material as this. Although he liked to see beautiful objects, 
he never thought of creating beauty for its own sake ; his study 
of science was through no love of the subject but for its practical 
results. His aim was always the useful. Persons and nations 
who care only for the useful may prosper for a while in material 
things; but stunted as they are in reason, spirituality, and 
ideals, they are sure soon to stop growing and then fall to 
decay. So it was with the Egyptians. 

30. Excessive Conservatism. — These defects of character 
made them from the beginning a conservative people, who 
insisted on preserving the customs of their ancestors. Grad- 
ually this respect for the wisdom of past generations grew on 
them till they absolutely refused to learn anything new. Be- 
fore 1500 B.C. all progress had ceased. The priests had reduced 
the minutest details of worship to fixed forms, from which no 
one dared depart. They made the king and the high magis- 
trates the slaves of ceremony. In the same way they regulated 
the arts and sciences, so that future artists merely imitated 
existing models, and the prescriptions of physicians strictly 
conformed to the written word. This slavery, imposed on the 
intellect, weakened both mind and body. Meantime the wealth 
of the people had gone to the gods — to be enjoyed by the god- 
king and the priests ; no land or other property was left to the 
common people, who were now virtually serfs. There were too 

1 First by Assyria (670 B.C.), then by Persia (552), then by the Macedonians under 
Alexander the Great (332). About two centuries after Alexander their kings be- 
came subjects of Rome. 



Asiatic Peoples 23 

many priests and officials ; excessive government overburdened 
and crushed the lives of all but the rulers themselves. National 
decay and death resulted — Egypt became a mummy. 

II. Babylonians, Assyrians, and Persians 

31. The Babylonians Compared with the Egyptians. — In 

the brief sketch of ancient civilization offered by this volume 
the aim is, not to treat all ages and all countries with equal ful- 
ness, but to present merely leading types of life. Thus Egyp- 
tian life, described in the foregoing section, may be taken as 
typical of Oriental civilization. Only those features of other 
Oriental peoples will be noticed which are distinct from the 
Egyptian, and which at the same time are important in the 
history of mankind. 

In most ways the Babylonians, for example, were so like the 
Egyptians as not to require separate treatment within the limits 
of this volume. They had about the same classes of society 
and they lived under an 
absolute king. They be- 
lieved in many gods, as did 
the Egyptians. In some 
respects, however, their 
life was very different from 
that of the Nile valley. 
Having plenty of clay but Babylon^n Writing 

almost no stone in their „ ., ^ • , 

, , ., t . Cuneiform. Described in the text. 

country, they built their 

walls, palaces, and temples of brick. These works, once grand, 
crumbled after a generation or two, and are now heaps of 
ruins. To the world they were useful if only in illustrating 
how extensively brick could be employed for building. The 
people used brick too, instead of paper for writing, inscribing 
their characters with a triangular instrument. The kind of 
writing material explains why their letters are all wedge-shaped 
— hence called cu'ne-i-form (from Latin cuneus, a, wedge). 
But as bricks are far more durable than papyrus, much more of 










i^S^<»i^^H» -3fr 



24 The Orient 

the Babylonian writings — in fact many a library — has been 
preserved, with the result that we are better acquainted with 
Babylonian life and literature than with the Egyptian. 

32. Literature and Law. — In literature they created the 
epic — a stately poem of considerable length which celebrates 
in narrative form the deeds of real or mythical heroes. One 
of these poems includes an account of the great flood and the 
building of the ship in which one human family alone was 
saved. Another long religious epic gives an account of the 
creation of the world by one of their gods. These tales are 
somewhat like the Biblical stories of the same events. 

One of the greatest contributions of Babylonia to the world's 
progress was a code of laws. This was the work of Ham-mu- 
ra'bi, king of the country, who ruled about 2000 B.C. The 
stone on which his laws are engraved has been found by ex- 
plorers. For many centuries this code continued in force in 
Babylonia and As-syr'i-a. All who wish to make themselves 
acquainted with the history of legislation should include a 
study of these laws. 

33. Science and the Useful Arts. — The Babylonians ad- 
vanced beyond the Egyptians in science. They divided the 
day into hours, and the hour into sixty minutes. The lunar 
month they divided into four weeks of seven days each. This 
system of reckoning time the Hebrews borrowed from them 
and bequeathed to us. For measuring time the Babylonians 
invented the sun-dial and the water-clock. They contrived a 
system of weights and measures which the Greeks and Romans 
adopted and handed down in a modified form to us. The 
decimal and sexagesimal (10 X 6) systems of numbers are also 
their invention. We use the decimal for most purposes but 
keep the other wherever it has come down to us in connection 
with weights and measures. In some of the skilled industries 
they excelled the Egyptians. They were expert workers in 
clay, glass, and the metals; but their most famous wares 
were tapestries, muslin, and linen. Their merchandise they 
sent abroad over the whole civilized world, till many nations 
learned their ideas, their science, and their useful arts. The 



Babylonia and Persia 25 

civilization of Babylon prevailed throughout western Asia; 
it deeply influenced Asia Minor, and it reached even to 
Europe. 

34. Empires. — By conquering some of the small neighbor- 
ing states Babylonia created an empire earlier than that of 
Egypt (§ 14). From time to time various other small empires 
in southwestern Asia rose and fell. All of them were formed of 
tribute-paying states under native kings. These rulers were 
ready to revolt at every opportunity. So loose a system was 
no advantage to the governed and gave no promise of lasting 
long. 

The first great state to devote itself to war, conquest, and 
government on large scale was Assyria, north of Babylonia. 
The Assyrians built up an empire which extended nearly to the 
Caspian sea on the northeast and included part of Egypt in 
the opposite direction. Their great improvement was the 
division of the subject country into districts, which we may 
call provinces, each ruled by a governor appointed by the Assy- 
rian king. The governor's duty was to command the army of 
his district, administer justice, and oversee the collection of the 
annual tribute. Under him were the native kings, who enjoyed 
far less power and independence than had those of earlier 
empires. The Assyrian king failed to protect these subject 
countries from foreign invasion and to give them the advan- 
tages of justice and of peaceful commerce with one another. 
His rule was wholly selfish and oppressive. This empire was 
at its height from about 900 to 600 B.C. 

35.' The Persian Empire. — Shortly after the fall of Assyria, 
Persia created through conquest a far greater empire. It 
extended from the Indus River in India westward to the bor- 
ders of Greece in Europe, and included all Egypt. The organ- 
ization into provinces was borrowed from Assyria and improved. 
The Persian king built broad, solid roads for the use of his 
armies and his messengers and for inland trade. The Greeks 
who lived in western Asia Minor and who were now his subjects, 
had begun to use coins. Darius, king of the Persians (522- 
485 b.c), established a system of gold and silver coins for his 



26 The Orient 

empire. It was a great advantage to trade, as the purchaser 
no longer needed to weigh the precious metal which he gave in 
exchange for merchandise or other property. Although people 
bought and sold for thousands of years before they had coined 
money, it has proved so useful that we can hardly imagine how 
we could do without it. Our knowledge of money, however, 
does not come from Persia, but from the Romans, who learned 
the art of coining money from the Greeks. 

III. Syria 

36. The Country. — There were still other Oriental peoples 
who aided the advancement of civilization. Further improve- 
ments were made by two little nations of Syria. This country, 
which lies along the east coast of the Mediterranean between 
Egypt and Babylonia, is a land of hills, mountains, and narrow 
valleys. As life is more difficult there, the inhabitants at first 
made slower progress in useful knowledge and in the arts. Some 
of this knowledge came from Egypt but the greater part from 
Babylonia. 

37. The Hebrews. — The country was divided into several 
small kingdoms. One of them in the south was that of the 
Hebrews, or Israelites. Their writers tell us that the children 
of Israel in their earlier wanderings had visited Egypt, where 
they were held in slavery by the Pharaohs four hundred years. 
To free them from bondage, Moses, a great religious teacher, 
led them forth from Egypt against the will of Pharaoh. After 
many years of wandering in the desert, they emerged into Syria 
about 1400 B.C. They conquered and settled the southern part, 
which is now known as Palestine. Their suffering in Egypt and 
their wanderings in the wilderness made them an exceedingly 
hardy, virile people. Their greatest achievement was the devel- 
opment of a religion of one all-powerful and all wise God — 
Jehovah, who loves goodness and punishes the wicked. More 
than a thousand years afterward Christianity, a new form 
of the same faith, grew out of the old. The old religion com- 
manded strict observance of ceremony; the new lays greater 



Hebrews 



27 



emphasis on forgiveness and love. Christianity has become 
the religion of the Europeans and of their colonies throughout 
the world, and missionaries are carrying it to all other peoples. 
The Bible is the national literature of the Hebrews. It contains 
legends, hymns, proverbs, exhortations, history, and prophecy. 
The books of the Old Testament, composed before the birth of 




The Temple to Jehovah 

At Jerusalem. It was on the summit of a hill and was approached by the ascent 
indicated in the foreground. Babylonian influence is evident in the plan. It con- 
sisted of an Outer, an Inner, and an Inmost Enclosure. To the last-named the 
priests alone were admitted. This temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 a.d. 



Christ, are in the national language. Those of the New Testa- 
ment were written afterward in Greek — then the literary lan- 
guage of the Orient. The Bible has been read by more persons 
than any other book. Though its aim is religious and moral 
instruction, it is a valuable source for the study of ancient 
life. 



28 



The Orient 




A Phoenician Ship of War and Trade 

The military character is indicated by the 
row of round shields. Notice the crude method 
of representing the two rows of oarsmen, the 
sea, and its inhabitants. From Malet, ' Anti- 
quite.' 



38. The Phoenicians. — The Phce-ni'ci-ans, neighbors and 
kinsmen of the Hebrews, lived north of them along the eastern 
. coast of the Mediterra- 

nean. The greatest of 
their cities was Tyre. 
They were manufacturers 
and merchants. Some of 
their cities are mentioned 
as early as 1500 B.C., and 
we are sure that soon after- 
ward they were the great 
traders of the Mediterra- 
nean. They carried their 
own wares and those of 
Egypt and Babylon to all 
the shores of that sea. As 
commercial stations they 
planted many colonies, among which were Carthage in Africa 
and Cadiz (Ga'des) in Spain. From them the natives learned 
much that was useful in naviga- 
tion, business, and manufactur- 
ing. Their most valuable gift 
to the Greeks was the alphabet. 
As to its origin little is known, 
but scholars are now inclined 
to believe that it was derived 
from the Minoan script by a 
process of selection. In the 
Phcenician alphabet the charac- 
ters represent sounds ; it was in 
fact the first phonetic system 
devised by man. The Greeks modified it to serve their own 
purposes ; and the Romans, adopting it from the Greeks with 
further changes, have handed it down to us. 



Phoenician 


ARCHAIC GREEK 


LATER GREEK 


ENGLISH 


#*r 


/\ AAA 


A A 


A 


*\ 


& & 


B 


B 


/M 


AlAC 


r- 


G 


A A 


^AVP 


A 


D 


^ 


^A^fc 


E <= 


E 


1 


A A"' 




F 


Z 


s z j: 


Z 


Z 



Ancestors of Some of the Letters 
of Our Alphabet 



Studies 29 

Topics for Reading 

I. Business and Industry in Egypt. — Maspero, Life in Ancient 
Egypt and Assyria, ch. ii; Dawn of Civilization, 310-26; Erman, Life 
in Ancient Egypt, chs. xviii, xix; Botsford, Source-Book of Ancient 
History, 22-5. 

II. Religion. — Maspero, Life, ch. iv (Amen, the Great God of 
Thebes) ; Dawn of Civilization, ch. ii ; Erman, ch. xii ; Sayce, Religions 
of Ancient Egypt and Babylonia, ch. i; Steindorff, Religion of the Ancient 
Egyptians, especially lects. i, ii ; Reisner, Egyptian Conception of Im- 
mortality; Breasted, Development of Religion and Thoughv in Ancient 
Egypt; Botsford, Source-book, 8-10. 

III. Egyptian Warfare. — Maspero, Life, ch. x ; Erman, ch. xx. 

IV. Social and Private Life in Assyria. — Maspero, Life, ch. xii; 
Sayce, Social Life among the Assyrians and Babylonians, chs. i-iv ; 
Botsford, Source-Book, 40 f. 

V. Commerce, Science, and Architecture of the Babylonians. — 
Winckler, History of Babylonia and Assyria, 131-64; Maspero, Dawn of 
Civilization, 75-63 ; Sayce, Social Life, chs. v-vii ; Goodspeed, History 
of the Babylonians' and Assyrians, 92-9. 

VI. Social and Religious Condition of the Hebrews before the Exile. 
— Kent, History of the Hebrew People, chs. vi, xiv. 

VII. Babylonian Captivity of the Hebrews. — Smith, Old Testament 
History, ch. xv ; Kent, History of the Jewish People during the Babylo- 
nian, Persian, and Greek Periods, 34-98. 

Review 

1. Explain the origin of kingship and nobility (cf. § 7). 2. What 
was there in the physical features of Egypt that contributed to absolute 
monarchy? 3. How did Egypt come to be united under one king? 
4. Describe the officials of Pharaoh. How did he acquire an empire, 
and how did he govern it? 5. Describe the homes of the poor; and 
the labors of a poor man and his wife. 6. How did they dress ? What 
was the condition of the children? 7. What tradesmen were there in 
Egypt? Describe the market and the wares. 8. What were the 
character and economic condition of the laboring class? What was 
their relation to their superiors and to Pharaoh? 9. Give an account 
of the different kinds of task work; of military service. 10. Describe 
the grades of officials ; the prime minister, n. What did the Egyptian 
boy study in school? How did he learn his profession? 12. Describe 
the religion of the Egyptians. Where did they think the gods were? 
Tell the story of Osiris. What were the moral aspects of their religion? 
13. Give an account of the growth of the temple. Describe its plan 
and furnishings. What was its artistic merit? 14. How did the priests 
become a powerful class? 15. In their opinion what became of the 



30 The Orient 

soul after death? Describe their treatment of the body. 16. What 
was a pyramid? How was it built? 17. Describe their system of 
writing. Distinguish between hieroglyphs and the running hand. 

18. What were the various departments, or fields, of their literature? 

19. Enumerate the causes of their decline. 20. Compare the Baby- 
lonians with the Egyptians in building, writing, and literature. 21. 
What were the contributions of Babylon to law, science, and the useful 
arts? 22. Describe the Assyrian empire. 23. How did the Persian 
empire differ from the Assyrian? 24. Describe Syria. 25. Give an 
account of the Hebrews. What did they contribute to religion? 26. 
Describe the situation of the Phoenicians. For what are they especially 
famous ? 

Additional Studies 

1. Why were a great majority of the Egyptians poor? Was the 
country so unproductive as not to afford all a comfortable living ? Why 
are there many poor people in every civilized country today? Is it a 
duty of government to pay any attention to the welfare of the poor? 
2. From the various articles of sale in the bazaar what may we infer 
as to the commerce of the Egyptians? 3. Why did the Egyptians 
worship animals? Is there any reason why a people with many gods 
should imagine them all to have human form? 4. Read Botsford, 
Source-Book, ch. ii, and answer the questions on p. 25 f. 5. Why did 
the civilization of the Babylonians affect surrounding nations more than 
that of the Egyptians? 6. Why were the states of Syria smaller than 
either Egypt or Babylonia? What effect had the Syrian hills and moun- 
tains on the character of the people ? Would such a country produce a 
higher type of civilization than one like Egypt ? Give reasons for your 
opinion. 7. Read Botsford, Source-Book, chs. iii-v and answer the 
questions at the close of these chapters. 8. Write an essay on one of 
the Reading Topics given above, as described p. 9, question 8. 



CHAPTER III 



EARLY GREECE 



From the Earliest Times to 479 B.C. 




I. General Political Development 

39. The Minoan Age (3000-1200). — It was stated above 
(§ 10) that the people who inhabited the islands and coasts of 
the iEgean sea, and whom we call Minoans, were quite as early 
as Babylonia, and not far behind Egypt, in 
emerging from the stone age and in develop- 
ing a higher civilization. Among the most 
famous centres of culture in the Minoan 
period were Cnos'sus in Crete, Troy in 
northwestern Asia Minor near the coast, 
and My-ce'nae in the peninsula of Greece. 
Through excavations, beginning about 1870, 
the brilliant life of these cities has been 
revealed to us. At Cnossus, for example, 
was a palace which covered five acres and 
stood at least four stories high. It contained 
a great central court, long corridors, and a 
multitude of rooms. In one room were 
stored the archives — hundreds of clay , . . , 

. J her son, the Youthful 

tablets engraved with a script which no one Zeus. Bezel of a gold 
as yet can read. Clearly, however, they rin s- National Mu- 
are accounts of taxes and rents due the seum ' 
king from his subjects and other such matters of business. 
In another part of the palace lay the industrial quarter in 
which hundreds of hands were kept busy with manufacturing 

31 



Minoan Women 

The woman seated 
under the fig tree is 
probably a goddess, the 
Great Mother. The 
two women and the girl 
are worshipers. The 
double-axe above is the 
military attribute of the 
goddess. The young 
man in the background 
to our left is doubtless 



32 



Early Greece 



everything necessary for the royal household, from the 
pressing of olive oil and wine and their storage in large 
earthen-ware jars to the cutting and engraving of gems, 




A Minoan Dagger 

The bronze blade is inlaid with gold figures representing a lion hunt. The hunts- 
men wear short trousers and are equipped with spears and the large oval shield of 
that age. The skill of the artist is most admirable. Found at Mycenae. 

the delicate fashioning of ornamental gold-work, which has 
never since been excelled, the adornment of the walls with 
frescoes, the fabrication and painting of vases of beautiful form 
and brilliant colors — in brief, the creation of the innumerable 
objects of use and of luxury demanded by a highly civilized 
people. Trades were specialized as among the Orientals ; life 
was more varied and brilliant, for in intelligence and in artistic 
taste the Minoans were far superior to Egyptians and Baby- 
lonians. Because bronze was the common metal in the useful 
arts, the period is called the Bronze Age. 
Gold was more plentiful than silver, and 
iron was almost unknown. 

Each city was ruled by a king, who like 
Pharaoh used all his absolute power for 
gathering wealth and luxury for himself and 
his friends, the nobles. The king of Mycenae 
must have compelled his subjects to devote 
their energy throughout his reign to the 
construction of his enormous "bee-hive" 
tomb in the hillside below his palace, where 
in death he was to be placed with the treasures accumulated by 
oppression. The kings of these cities were politically ambitious. 
There were wars for supremacy Umong them, and doubtless 




Bezel of a Gold Ring 

Showing a combat of 
warriors. Notice the 
shield — one of the two 
types of the Minoan 
shield. Found at 
Mycenae. 



The Minoans 33 

fiercer struggles to maintain their freedom against the less civil- 
ized tribes who began to press upon them from the North. 
Hence arose the mighty walls which surrounded Mycenae and 
other cities of that time, and which still excite the wonder of 
travellers. 

40. Internal Decay and the Coming of the Northerners. — 
For centuries life in these cities was so like that along the Nile 
and the Euphrates that the iEgean area might have been 
thought of as a part of the Orient. In time, however, this 
condition came to an end. Oppression robbed the masses of 
their vitality and their spirit, and the wealth of the state was 
exhausted in luxury or poured into the graves. The few who 
ruled became fewer and less capable. 
The artisan lost his skill, and the artist 
his genius. The civilization of these 
people, once so brilliant, gradually died. 

Under these circumstances tribes 
from the North, pouring down through 
the Balkan peninsula, began to enter Warriors 

Greece (about 2000). Though less Late Minoan or early epic 

civilized than the Minoans, they were (Homeric). Equipment : hel- 

f , ... , <- ii met with high crest and plume, 

a fresh virile race, who finally sue- round shield notc hed below, 
ceeded in overrunning the entire penin- greaves, and spear. Contrast 
sula, and then the coasts and islands f th ^ tw f ° T^m g pk ~ 

' tures. Vase found at Mycenae. 

of the ^Egean sea. The language of the 

invaders prevailed, and the people who sprang from the union 
of the two races are known to us as Greeks. They, however, 
called themselves Hel-len'es, and their country Hellas." The 
wealth, the art, and many of the customs and institutions of 
the brilliant Minoan age had passed away. The Hellenes, 
therefore, had to begin their historical career from a far lower 
stage of culture. 

41. Greece and the Greeks. — A glance at their country will 
help us understand their character and mode of life. In trav- 
elling through Greece, or in looking at a map of it, we see that 
the country is mountainous. Ridges so high as to be almost 
impassable divide the peninsula into narrow valleys, leaving 




34 



Early Greece 



here and there a little plain. Life among these mountains made 
the Greeks hardy, vigorous, and brave — ready to fight and 
die for home and freedom. 'The people of each valley, too, 
seeing little of their neighbors, were content to live alone in 
the enjoyment of complete independence. In other words, 
the mountains prevented the growth of large states like Egypt 
and Babylonia. 




Mycenaean Wall 

A part of the wall which surrounded Mycenae. It is composed of huge polygons of 
stone fitted closely together, and is therefore described as polygonal. From a 
photograph. 

42. Commerce, Industry, and Colonization. — The soil is 
poor excepting in the little plains at the mouths of streams. 
Most of the land is stony, fit only for grazing. There were a 
few mines of copper, iron, silver, and gold ; but no one of these 
metals was abundant. To make a living the people had to be 
industrious and intelligent. Their slight means taught them 
self-restraint and moderation. To add something to their 
little property they manufactured weapons, vases, wine, and 



Commerce, Colonization, Cities 35 

other wares, which they exported in their own ships to foreign 
lands. In time they became a great industrial and commercial 
people. They founded colonies, too, on islands and along the 
shores of the ^Egean Sea, in Sicily and southern Italy, and in 
more distant parts of the Mediterranean world. Trade with 
the natives in all these regions extended their civilization and 
added to their wealth. But even after acquiring considerable 
riches they long kept their old habits of moderation. Unlike 
many of the present day, they did not seek wealth for its own 
sake. Living in a beautiful country, they aimed chiefly to 
make life beautiful. In intelligence and good taste they have 
had no superiors in all history. 

43. The City-State. — In the beginning Greece, though 
small, comprised hundreds of independent states, ranging from 
a few square miles to a few hundred square miles in area. The 
more progressive parts of Greece, as the coasts and the islands, 
were occupied exclusively by city-states. We cannot under- 
stand the Greeks without a clear conception of the difference 
between their state and ours. A modern state is a country 
whose inhabitants, excepting a few transients, are fellow- 
citizens under one government. The Greek state, on the other 
hand, was a society which possessed a definite country. Its 
members believed themselves to be of one kin, and their religion 
to have been handed down for their sole benefit by their an- 
cestors. Hence they were unwilling, except in the rarest cases, 
to admit strangers to their association. 

The state was not only a large family and religious society; 
it was also essentially a city. There was not, as with us, a 
government for the country and another for the city ; rather, 
there was merely a city government, which extended as well 
over the whole area of the state. As an illustration we may take 
Attica and Athens (see map before p. 73). Geographically 
Attica was a country in which Athens was situated. Politi- 
cally Athens was a state which included all Attica. All the in- 
habitants of Attica who enjoyed political rights in the country 
were Athenians. The smallness, the exclusiveness, and the 
religious character of these societies combined to produce in 



36 Early Greece 

the members a devotion to country and an efficiency of body and 
mind found nowhere else in history. In brief, the city-states, 
in keenest rivalry with one another and favorably influenced 
by their surroundings, created the Greek civilization — the 
most brilliant in the world's history. 

44. Government : from Kingship to Democracy. — In the 
beginning the hundreds of little states which occupied Greece 
were all kingdoms. But the king was not absolute like those 
of the Orient and of early Crete and Mycenae. It was cus- 
tomary for the leading nobles to meet in a council for the pur- 
pose of advising him on all important public matters ; and to 
keep their good will and support he generally found it necessary 
to follow their advice. When the king wished to begin a war 
or other undertaking which concerned the whole people, he 
summoned the freemen to an assembly to hear his plan. They 
approved it by acclamation or rejected it by silence. 

In some of the states the nobles grew so strong that they 
degraded the office of king to a mere priesthood. .The council 
of nobles, which was now supreme, created new offices and 
filled them annually by appointment from the ruling class. 
Such a government by nobles is called an aristocracy. Athens 
and some other Greek states passed from kingship to aristocracy 
about 750 B.C. The change brought a great advance in gov- 
ernment. When several persons take part in ruling a state, 
the duties and rights of each must be carefully defined in order 
to prevent friction. These regulations make up the constitu- 
tion — a thing which the Orientals had never thought of. The 
common people of Athens, oppressed by the nobles, began a 
struggle for social and political rights. In this conflict they 
forced the government to appoint one of the citizens 1 to write 
the laws in a code; and after a time they devised a way of 
repealing those which they found unsuitable and of making 
new and better laws. In other words the government developed 
a legislative function. 

In the more progressive states, as the common people grew 

1 This was Draco, 621 B.C. ; see Botsford, Histpry of Greece, p. 46 ff. Soon after- 
ward (594 B.C.) the laws of Draco were revised and many others added by Solon. 



Sparta 37 

in intelligence, wealth, and influence, they insisted on taking 
a more active part in the government. Their struggle for power 
they carried on in their assembly. In this gathering they grad- 
ually limited the power of the council and of the magistrates, 
till they had made their assembly supreme, and had subjected 
the council and the magistrates to it. Such a government is 
a democracy. At Athens it required about a century and a 
half — from Solon, 594, to Pericles, 461 B.C. — to bring about 
this change. 

From what has been said it is clear that the states developed 
along different lines, and that some progressed farther than 
others in government as well as in general culture. In our 
study of the Greek city-state we shall limit ourselves to 
Sparta and Athens, taking the former as an example of aris- 
tocracy, the latter of democracy. 

II. Sparta 

45. Beginnings. — Greece terminates on the south in a 
broad peninsula named Pel-o-pon-nese'. Within the latter is 
La-co'ni-a, a river basin between two parallel mountain ranges. 
This country lay in the area of the Minoan civilization. 
As the inhabitants gradually lost their skill and energy, and 
were less able than formerly to protect themselves, a new people 
from the north invaded the country. From the mingling of 
these invaders with the earlier inhabitants sprang the Dorians, 
who formed one of the branches of the Greek raCe. All eastern 
and southern Peloponnese became Dorian. 

Originally Sparta was but one of several Dorian city-states 
in Laconia ; but in time she conquered the others and held 
them in subjection. Afterward she subdued Mes-se'ni-a, the 
country west of Laconia; and still later, by annexing a strip 
of territory along the east coast, she extended her sway over 
the entire breadth of southern Peloponnese. The state thus 
formed is generally known by the name of the conquering city, 
Sparta. 1 

1 More precisely the state was Lac-e-dae mon, the city Sparta. 



38 Early Greece 

46. Perioeci. — The inhabitants of the conquered towns 
were called per-i-os'ci, " dwellers around." Although they 
enjoyed no share in the central government of the state at Sparta, 
they had in their own towns self-government in local matters. 
It was the policy of Sparta, however, to restrict their freedom 
more and more as the centuries passed. Their principal duty 
toward Sparta was military service in the wars she chose to 
wage. They furnished heavy infantry for the army. In peace 
the perioeci busied themselves and their slaves with agriculture, 
mining iron, manufacturing, and commerce. Among their 
exports were armor, drinking cups, couches, beds, and tables. 
In these activities the protection they received from Sparta was 
a great advantage. Many grew wealthy and prosperous ; and on 
the whole they remained for ages satisfied with their condition 
and ready to defend Sparta against every attack made upon her. 

47. The Helots. — Inferior to the perioeci were the people 
termed he 'lots. They, too, were a part of the conquered popu- 
lation ; but they had fared worse than the perioeci, for the Spar- 
tans had reduced them to serfdom. We must distinguish them 
from the slaves mentioned above. They were the property of 
the state. Living in the country, in single families or in small 
villages, they cultivated the fields of the individual Spartans, 
each paying his lord a fixed amount of produce and keeping 
the rest for himself. Thus they could acquire property of their 
own. Their lord had no right to free them or to sell them to 
foreigners. In time of war they served as light troops, and many 
were set free by the state on account of valiant conduct. 

Their condition, however, was far from happy. As they 
formed a great majority of the population, the Spartans feared 
them. The braver and more intelligent a helot was, the more 
he was suspected of treachery toward the government. Ac- 
cordingly a secret police force of young Spartans was formed to 
go about the country and spy upon the serfs; and whenever 
these watchers suspected a helot of disaffection toward the 
government, they lost no time in assassinating him. This 
cruel treatment made the serfs dislike Sparta all the more, and 
goaded them to rebellion at every favorable opportunity. 



Social Classes 39 

48. The Spartans. — The subject classes have been first 
described in order that we may appreciate the influence they 
had on the character of the Spartans. The latter were inhabit- 
ants of the city of Sparta. They ruled as conquerors over the 
periceci and helots; they alone conducted the central govern- 
ment, decided on peace and war, and entered into alliance 
with other states. Too proud and exclusive to share political 
and social equality with the conquered class, they had to main- 
tain their superior position, especially against the helots, by 
military force. As they at no time numbered more than nine 
or ten thousand men of military age, while the subjects counted 
many times that number, they found it necessary to make of 
themselves a standing army and devote their whole lives to 
military drill. From birth upward to the sixtieth year the 
Spartan was trained and exercised solely with a view to making 
and keeping him a strong, efficient, and loyal soldier. The 
principle ruled that the individual belonged neither to himself 
nor to his family, but wholly to the state. 

49. Spartan Education. — Every child was examined by 
the proper authorities ; and if they found him weak or deformed, 
they ordered him to be exposed to death in the mountains near 
by. If healthy, he was given for a time in charge of his mother, 
who taught him not to be sensitive as to quality of food, nor 
peevish and fretful, nor afraid of the dark. At the age of seven 
the boy was taken from his mother, and enrolled in a company 
of his own age under an older man distinguished for his bravery 
and high character. Under his supervision the boys began their 
military training, which increased in severity year by year. 
They ate together in the barracks, went barefoot, wore light 
clothing even in winter, and made their beds of reeds which 
they gathered along the river. They exercised in the gymnasia, 
took military drill, and hunted game. To make them dexterous 
in body and mind, they were practiced in stealing food from the 
tables of the men and from the gardens ; but any one caught 
was punished for clumsiness. Every year the boys had to 
submit to a whipping before the altar of the goddess Artemis, and 
he was the hero who could endure the flogging longest. They 



40 



Early Greece 



learned reading and writing. They committed to memory the 
warlike melodies of their country. One of these songs, which the 
soldiers used to sing as they engaged in battle, is as follows : — 

" To the front, O sons of Sparta, 
Rich in men, of freeborn fathers ; 
With your left hand press your shield forth, 
Hurl your lance with daring spirit, 
Sparing not your life in battle, 
For 'tis not the rule at Sparta." 

They had no mental culture except in music and poetry. Girls 

passed through a gymnastic training 
like that of the boys though less 
severe. The state encouraged them 
to such exercise, as it considered the 
athletic education of women neces- 
sary to the physical perfection of the 
race. 

50. Men and Women. — At the 
age of twenty the young man was 
ready for service in actual war. At 
thirty he became a full citizen, privi- 
leged to take part in the government 
and to marry. Through his entire 
life, however, he continued till his 
sixtieth year to live in the barracks, 
and to eat with his " mess." This 
was a group of about fifteen persons. 
When a vacancy occurred they bal- 
loted with bread-crumbs on the ad- 
mission of a new member; and a 
single adverse ballot was enough to 
debar the candidate. A man could 
not claim his family as his own. All 
the older Spartans regarded the 
younger as their children, and the 
young were taught to respect and 

obey any of the elders as much as their own fathers. 




An Athletic Girl or Sparta 

Wearing a short tunic (chiton), 
girded with a broad belt. The 
arms are modern. She stands 
ready to start in the foot-race. 
The statue is a memorial of her 
victory, as indicated by the palm 
leaf on the prop. A marble copy 
of a bronze original of the fifth 
century. Vatican Museum. 



Education, Military Life 



4i 



The only members of the community who were free from 
control were the women. They lived at home in luxury; in 
time they acquired two-fifths of the land in the state. Loyal, 
brave, and intelligent, they held before the eyes of husbands 
and sons the high Spartan standard of courage and duty. In 
sending her son forth to battle, a certain mother commanded 
him to return with his shield or upon it. To the Spartan it 
was the greatest disgrace to throw away 
his shield and run from the enemy, but 
an honor to be carried home dead upon 
it. Once when an ambassador of another 
state came to Sparta and offered a bribe 
to the king, his daughter Gorgo, a mere 
child, exclaimed, " Father, the stranger 
will corrupt thee, if thou do not leave him 
and go ! " In this way she saved her 
father's honor. 

51. The Army. — The armies of the 
Orient were crowds of men with little 
organization, poor defensive arms, and no 
training. The rank and file of the early 
Greek armies were scarcely better ; it was 
only the kings and lords who could afford 
good equipments. To the Spartans be- 
longs the credit of establishing the first 
well-organized, well-equipped, and well- 
trained army. The main part of the force 
was the phalanx — a line, several ranks 
deep, of warriors with strong defensive 
armor and long spears, who moved as a 
unit to the sound of music. The arms of defence were the 
helmet, a coat of mail for the body, greaves for the legs, and a 
shield. They were mostly bronze, whereas the swords and lance 
points were iron. 1 The growth of this military system was 
favored by the circumstances that the Spartans were a class of 

1 The Iron Age, during which iron has been the common useful metal, began about 
1300 B.C. 




Heavy-armed Warrior 

Showing helmet, cui- 
rass, and greaves. Bronze 
statuette, of the sixth 
century B.C. British 
Museum. 



42 Early Greece 

lords with means of equipping themselves efficiently, and with 
leisure for thorough training. Their mines supplied iron, and 
the necessity of controlling their subjects incited them to devise 
the system. The phalanx and arms were adopted by the other 
Greeks and by the Romans. We must therefore regard the 
Spartans as the greatest military inventors in the ancient world. 

52. Government. — Throughout Greece the men who formed 
the effective military power controlled the state. In Sparta, 
therefore, the government was vested in the whole body of 
freemen, who formed the phalanx. In the exercise of political 
power they met. together and voted in an assembly. They 
had two kings, who were originally the chief magistrates ; but 
in time they lost the headship of the state and came to be little 
more than generals, handing down their office from father to 
son. As chief magistrates the assembly elected annually five 
ephors — " overseers." It gave these officers large authority 
that the state might be strongly centralized, and able thus to 
act with great promptness and energy in the face of danger. 
The kings had been assisted by a council of twenty-eight elders, 
drawn from certain noble families among the Spartans. But 
while in other Greek states the council gained at the expense of 
the king, and finally usurped the government, in Sparta it 
declined along with the kings, leaving most of the power to the 
assembly and the ephors. These changes brought remarkable 
results. Though a kingship in name, Sparta was really a 
republic, as strongly centralized and as efficient in action as a 
monarchy. In this respect it was surpassed, in the ancient 
world, only by Rome. 

53. The Peloponnesian League. — Naturally the great mili- 
tary power of Sparta inspired her neighbors with respect. 
Fearing attack and conquest at her hands, many were willing 
to enter into permanent alliance with her. In this way the 
Peloponnesian League was formed. It comprised all the states 
of Peloponnese excepting Argos and a part of A-chae'a. Each 
state had a separate treaty with Sparta, which regulated the 
relations between the two. A congress of deputies from all 
the states met occasionally at Sparta or Corinth to consider 



Peloponnesian League 43 

questions of war, peace, and alliance. The states paid no trib- 
ute to Sparta, but all furnished military forces when required. 
The arrangement was on the whole admirable; the states 
enjoyed a large degree of freedom, and the union protected 
them from foreign enemies. When the Persians attempted to 
conquer Greece, Athens and the Peloponnesian League were 
the two powers that bravely met them in several battles and 
repelled their greatly superior forces. 1 That these few Greeks 
were able to withstand the mighty Persian empire is one of the 
most remarkable facts of history. 

54. Summary. — In our study of the Orient we have had to 
do solely with monarchies ; in Greece republics appear for the 
first time in history. It was the achievement of the Spartans 
to create a republic with a government strong enough to pro- 
tect life and property from foreign and domestic enemies. They 
had a well-regulated state at a time when the other Greek 
republics were full of confusion and strife. In other words, 
their state was the first successful republic known to history. 
Though their public and social life was a great advance beyond 
that of the Orient, it was defective in two respects : (1) a small 
fraction of the population enjoyed the benefits of the system, 
(2) the severe discipline stopped the growth of intelligence and 
hence prevented the full development of the Spartans as in- 
dividuals and as a state. They were aristocratic, narrow, con- 
servative, and therefore stunted in their growth. It was the 
task of other states, notably of Athens, to make further ad- 
vances in government and to develop art and intelligence to the 
highest point thus far reached by the human race. Before 
coming to Athens, however, it is necessary to consider some of 
the general features of Greek life. 

Topics for Reading 

I. Geography of Greece. — Botsford, History of the Ancient World, 
ch. vi ; Zimmern, Greek Commonwealth, pt. i ; Myres, Greek Lands and 

1 Athens defeated the Persians at Marathon in 490 B.C. Ten years later the com- 
bined forces of the Greeks defeated them in the naval battle of Salamis (480), and 
afterward in the land battles at Platasa and Mycale (479). 



44 Early Greece 

the Greek People; Tozer, Classical Geography ; Shepherd, Atlas of An- 
cient History. 

II. Excursions in Attica. — Mahaffy, Rambles and Studies in Greece, 
chs. vi, vii; Richardson, Vacation Days in Greece, in-18. 

III. Solon. — Botsford, History of the Ancient World, 130-35 ; 
Development of the Athenian Constitution, ch. ix; Source-Book of Ancient 
History, 125-30; Bury, History of Greece, iv, § 4. 

IV. Cleisthenes. — Botsford, Ancient World, 138-41 ; Source- 
Book, 137-9; Zimmern, Greek Commonwealth, 139-57; Greenidge, 
Hand-Book of Greek Constitutional History, 157-62. 

V. Spartan Society and Education. — Botsford, History of Greece, 
51-61; Source-Book of Ancient History, 112-16; Fling, Source-Book 
of Greek History, 56-77; Bury, History of Greece, ch. iii. § 3; Curtius, 
History of Greece, I. 211-22 (Scribner, 1899). 

VI. The Great War between Greece and Persia. — Botsford, His- 
tory of Greece, 115-39; Source-Book, ch. xvi; Fling, Source-Book, 98- 
143; Bury, History of Greece, ch. vii; Holm, History of Greece, II. chs. 
i-v; Hall, Ancient History of the Near East, 572-86. 

Review 

1. Describe from the map the location of the chief centres of Minoan 
civilization. What were the distinguishing features of this civilization? 
Describe the government. 2. Why did the Minoan civilization decline ? 
Of what races were the Hellenes composed? 3. Describe the physical 
features of Greece. What effect had they on the people? Compare 
Greece with Egypt and Syria. 4. Why did the Greeks become a 
trading and colonizing people? 5. Define city-state. Contrast it 
with the modern state. 6. Trace the development of government 
from kingship to democracy. 7. Explain the beginnings of legislation. 
8. Describe from the map the location of Peloponnese, Laconia, Sparta, 
and Messenia. 9. Give an account of the perioeci, helots, and Spartans 
respectively (§§ 46-8), stating the condition of each and their relation 
to one another. 10. Describe the education of Spartan children, 
n. Give an account of the occupations of Spartan men and women. 
12. What was the relation of the government to the army? Name 
and describe the institutions of government one by one. Was the gov- 
ernment an aristocracy or a democracy? 13. Explain the composition 
and the organization of the Peloponnesian League. 

Additional Studies 

1. Which European country is nearest to the Orient? How does 
the situation help explain why this part of Europe was the first to be- 
come civilized? 2. What advances in government did the Greeks 
make over the Orientals? 3. Read Botsford, Source-Book, chs. 



Studies 45 

vii-xi, xiii, and answer the questions at the close of these chapters. 

4. How do the lower classes in Laconia compare with those of Egypt? 

5. Was the condition of a Spartan more or less desirable than that of a 
pericecus, and why? 6. In what respects, if in any, was Spartan educa- 
tion superior to our own? What were its defects? 7. What is a 
republic (see dictionary) ? What is a league of states ? In what respect 
is a republic better than a monarchy? 8. What did Sparta contribute 
to civilization? 9. Read Botsford, Source-Book, ch. xii, and answer 
the questions at the close. 10. Write an essay on one of the Reading 
Topics above, as directed on p. o, question 8. 



CHAPTER IV 

RELIGION AND INTELLIGENCE IN GREECE 

55. Religion. — In Greece, as in the Orient, religion was a 
powerful motive to progress. Like the Egyptians, the Greeks 
worshipped the dead. At first they believed that the soul of 
the deceased lived in the tomb, where he received on appointed 
days food and drink offerings from his living kinsfolk. In 
time they began to imagine a place beneath the earth, whither 
all souls departed in death to lead a shadowy, joyless existence. 
This region was the kingdom of the god Ha'des. 

Like the Orientals, too, the Greeks originally worshipped 
the powers of nature. But soon outgrowing this primitive 
stage of religion, they came to think of all their deities as possess- 
ing the form and character of men and women; they differed 
from human beings only in their greater strength, stature, and 
beauty, and in their immortality. The poet Homer declares: 
" Yea, and the gods in the likeness of strangers from far coun- 
tries put on all manner of shapes, and wander through the cities, 
beholding the violence and the righteousness of men." These 
deities had the bad as well as the good traits of human character, 
and therefore influenced men for both good and evil. 

The greatest of deities was Zeus, " father of gods and men." 
He'ra, protecting goddess of women, was his wife. Po-sei'don, 
a brother, ruled over the sea ; Hades, another brother, over the 
region beneath the earth. A-pol'lo was the ideal of manly 
beauty, god of music and of the healing art ; A-the'na, sprung 
full-grown and armed from the head of her father Zeus, was 
patron of war and of skilled handiwork. There were countless 
other deities. Homer pictures Zeus and the twelve greater 

46 



Gods and Oracles 



47 



divinities living on the top of snow-capped O-lym'pus (Thessaly), 
sitting in council on the destiny of men, quarrelling, scheming, 
and enjoying themselves. 

56. The Oracle of Apollo at Delphi. — The people believed 
that Zeus revealed his will to mankind through dreams, the 
flight of birds, and other omens. In cer- 
tain places a definite method of learning 
the divine will was established. Such 
means of revelation was called an oracle. 
The same word denoted the utterance of 
the god. The most famous oracle was 
that of Apollo at Delphi. In a valley high 
up on the side of Par-nas'sus, amid the 
wild grandeur of the bare mountains, stood 
his shrine. Therein sat the prophetess, 
who muttered something in answer to 
inquiries. The priests wrote out the an- 
swer usually in poetic form, and gave it 
to the inquirer as the word of Zeus deliv- 
ered through his son Apollo. Men sought 
his advice on difficult moral and religious 
questions ; on the advisability of going to 
war or planting a colony. The priests, 
who as a rule were intelligent and well- 
informed, usually gave sound advice. 
Sometimes, however, they were bribed to 
take the side of one party or state against 
another. When asked whether a war or 
other enterprise would result successfully, 
they aimed to make their replies vague or 
double-meaning, so as to be right in any 
event. A certain king in Asia Minor was 
told that if he went to war, he would destroy a great state. 
Accepting the oracle as favorable, he began war but destroyed 
his own state. Though the institution was defective, it tended, 
as the central shrine of Hellas, to unite the Greeks by a religious 
and moral bond. 




Apollo with a Cithara 

The cithara is a stringed 
instrument, like a lyre but 
heavier. Apollo holds it 
near the left side, while in 
his right hand is a plec- 
trum, with which he 
touches the keys. His 
dress is a long, sleeved 
tunic (chiton) of fine tex- 
ture and a wrap (hima- 
tion). From a vase 
painting. 



4 8 



Religion and Intelligence in Greece 



57. Athletics ; the Great National Games. — The smaller a 
sovereign state is, the more highly it must value the individual 
citizens as soldiers and defenders, and the more must these 
citizens strive to perfect their bodies and minds for public 
service. All the Greek states trained their boys and youths 
in athletics; their military drill was as necessary, though not 
so severe and prolonged, as that of 
Sparta. The aim of training was to 
make the body strong and supple and the 
mind alert, so as to produce the best pos- 
sible soldier-citizens. The contests were 
always competitive; the struggle for 
mastery stimulated effort and quickened, 
the mind. These competitions were held 
not only in the gymnasia of every city- 
state, but also in many of its religious 
festivals. The most promising winners 
were sent to compete in the great 
national games. All Greeks had a right 
to take part. The Olympic games, held 
every fourth year, were the most splen- 
did. Here gathered a vast number of 
Greeks from all the shores of the Medi- 
terranean to see the competitions. Mer- 
chants displayed their wares, artists their 
statues and paintings ; poets read their 
compositions; heralds proclaimed trea- 
ties recently formed. In the absence of 
newspapers and printed books the festi- 
val served as a means of interchanging 
ideas, of diffusing knowledge, and of creating a bond of feeling 
among the Hellenes who attended. 

The competitors in the games had to be Greeks of good 
character and religious standing and of sufficient athletic train- 
ing. There were contests in running, jumping, discus-throw- 
ing, spear-hurling, wrestling, boxing, and racing of horses and 
chariots. At Olympia the prize was a simple wreath of wild 




Prophetess of Apollo 

On the tripod — three- 
legged seat, on which she 
sits while prophesying. She 
wears the usual lady's dress, 
a tunic (chiton), and over 
it a wrap (epiblema) . From 
a vase painting. 



Athletics, Literature 



49 



olive, of no money value, and in games elsewhere it was some- 
thing similar ; for those who devised the competitions set honor 
above wealth. The games not only brought the Greeks to- 
gether in friendship, and stimulated physical culture, but also 
encouraged art; for the sculptors found their best models 
among the competitors and a strong inspiration in making 
statues to immortalize the individual victors. 

58. Literature : Homer. — Another thing the Greeks had 
in common was literature. It began with Homer, whom later 
ages imagined a blind old poet, wandering about and singing 
his lays at the courts of kings 
and nobles and at festive 
gatherings of the people. In a 
song ascribed to him the poet is 
represented as thus referring to 
himself, the sweetest of all 
singers : " A blind man is he, 
and he dwells in rocky Chios ; 
his songs shall have the mas- 
tery, ay, in all time to come." 
The prophecy has come true. 
No other epic poem x equals the 
two he composed — the Il'i-ad 
and the Od'ys-sey. The Iliad 
tells a story connected with the 
siege of Troy by the Greeks; 
the Odyssey describes the wanderings of the hero O-dys'seus on 
his way home after the capture and destruction of Troy. The 
incidents of these stories are all or nearly all mythical. The man- 
ners, customs, and ideas the poet describes are those of his own 
people and of his own age — that is, of the Greek colonists in Asia 
Minor about 1000-750 B.C. 2 The poems are simple, graceful, 
and spirited; they touch the life of the time on all its varied 

1 See § 32. 

2 There can be no doubt that Homer used the myths that earlier minstrels had 
handed down for generations ; but he was as much the creator of his poems as Shake- 
speare of the dramas attributed to him. Works of art, as these poems are, prove 
the existence of the artist. 

E 




Wrestlers 

Well-developed bodies engaged in a 
common athletic exercise. Marble, 
Uffizi, Florence. 



50 Religion and Intelligence in Greece 

sides; to the student of history they reveal an early stage of 
the wonderful civilization of Greece. 

59. Lyric Poetry : Pindar. — Homer lived under the mon- 
archy, in an age of political and social quiet. Then came revo- 
lutions transforming the monarchies into aristocracies. Further 
political upheavals destroyed the aristocracies and set up 
despotisms, governments of the wealthy, and finally in some 
states democracies (§ 44). The times were made more stirring 
by frequent wars among the states, and by a vast colonial 
expansion which extended the settlements of the Greeks to 
nearly all parts of the Mediterranean world, from Egypt to 
Marseilles and from south Russia to the African desert. These 
conditions produced an intense mental activity which the world 
had never seen before. The period from Homer to the end of 
the war with Persia (750-479 b.c.) was a great age of intellectual 
awakening. The new spirit expressed itself in literature. 
Abandoning the simple epic style of Homer, poets created elabo- 
rate measures to express the complexities of the new life. They 
no longer limited themselves to story telling, but attacked 
vigorously the hard problems of society, government, human 
existence, morals, and the relation of the gods to men. 

The highest form of poetry in this age was the lyric — the 
song accompanied by the lyre. Some lyrics were sung by in- 
dividuals at social gatherings. Others, more complex and 
stately, were presented at public festivals by a chorus of men, 
youths, or girls, appropriately dressed and trained for the pur- 
pose, who accompanied the music with a dance. Such a poem 
was a choral ode. Its production involved expense, usually 
defrayed by the state. We are far less sensitive than were the 
Greeks to the influence of music ; hence we cannot appreciate 
how powerful a force it was for moulding character. 

The greatest of all lyric poets was Pindar. He was intensely 
religious and intensely aristocratic. Next in value to religion 
he esteemed manly strength and achievement in the games, 
and the splendor of riches generously spent by the great on 
art, festivals, and song. Most of his poems still preserved are 
choral odes in honor of victors at the national games. In a 



Poetry and Philosophy 51 

poem of the kind Pindar, with brief mention of the victory, 
narrates in his own majestic style some myth connected with 
the family or city of the winner, to shed the glory of his song 
on what he believed to be the noblest achievement of inherited 
virtue. In splendor and power he has no superior. 

60. The Beginnings of Science ; Philosophy. — The lyric 
poets thought deeply on the problems of nature, man, and God. 
Their reason, however, was controlled by religion. In seeking 
the cause of anything they always went back to the supernatural. 
For instance, they explained the alternation of winter and 
summer by the myth of De-me'ter, goddess of the earth and 
of agriculture. She had a daughter Per-seph'o-ne, whom 
Hades carried off by force to be his wife and queen in the lower 
world. Demeter was sad, and the earth became cold and barren ; 
but when after a time her daughter was restored, the mother's 
joy warmed the earth and made it fruitful. Thenceforth 
Persephone remained with her mother during the summer 
months and with Hades through the winter. As long as think- 
ers were satisfied with such myths, true science remained im- 
possible. 

Progress beyond this childlike view of nature was made by 
the Ionians. One of them, Tha'les by name, sought in nature 
itself a first cause of all things. Everything, he declared, is 
formed from water. In choosing water as the cause and sub- 
stance of things he was wholly wrong ; but in seeking a natural 
rather than a supernatural cause he laid the foundation of 
Greek philosophy. The word philosophy, as used by the 
Greeks, included science as well as the deeper delving into the 
ultimate nature of things. In this early period the Greeks were 
already making progress in mathematics, astronomy, geography, 
and other useful sciences, though as yet they had not separated 
these fields of knowledge from one another or arranged their 
facts in a definite system. 

We have now sketched the progress of mankind from the 
stone age to about 480 B.C. For a true appreciation of this 
period it is necessary to keep in mind the fact that nearly the 
whole world was still barbarous, either remaining in the stone 



52 



Religion and Intelligence in Greece 



age or but little advanced in the use of metals. The progress 
with which we have thus far been concerned was limited to 
Egypt, southwestern Asia, and the Greeks. It is true that 

India and China had 

i the E»rfh' s Cl ..... , . . 

civilizations of their 
own, but till recently 
these countries have 
had little connection 
with the general prog- 
ress of the world. The 
Greeks not only occu- 
pied the country now 
called Greece, but had 
colonized many islands 
and long stretches of 
coast of the Mediter- 
ranean Sea and its trib- 
utary waters. In the 
western Mediterranean 
Phoenician colonies ri- 
valled those of the 
Greeks. From these 
peoples, and especially from the latter, the natives were learning 
the industries, the fine arts, and the alphabet ; but as yet these 
improvements had not extended far from the coasts. The 
accompanying map presents the view of the world held by the 
most learned geographer of the age. To the North and the 
South, in fact, it includes an area stretching far beyond the 
limits of civilization. 




The World 

According to the geographer Hecataeus, about 
500 B.C. 



Topics for Reading 

I. Future Life. — Fairbanks, Mythology of Greece and Rome, ch. 
viii; Handbook of Greek Religion, 168-88; Hardie, Lectures on Classical 
Subjects, 36-70; Botsford, Source-Book of Ancient History, 89-94. 

II. The Mysteries. — Botsford, History of the Ancient World, 
151 f . ; Fairbanks, Mythology of Greece and Rome, 171-83 (including 
myth of Demeter and Persephone) ; Greek Religion, 128-37. 

III. Games and Festivals. — Botsford, Source-Book, 189-91 (char- 



Studies 53 

iot race) ; Fling, Source-Book of Greek History, 47-53 ; Holm, History 
of Greece, I. ch. xix ; Bury, History of Greece, ch. iii. §§ 5, 9; Mahaffy, 
Rambles and Studies in Greece, ch. xi; Gardiner, Greek Athletic Sports 
and Festivals (see Contents). 

IV. Myths. — In the brief account of early Greece given above, 
reference could be made to but one or two myths. Although not his- 
tory, they are beautiful stories, and are valuable partly because they 
throw light on the working of the Greek mind, and partly because of 
their great influence on art and literature. Perhaps the best available 
book is Fairbanks, Mythology of Greece and Rome. Read any chapters 
or the entire book. Another book in a pleasing style, though not recom- 
mended for accuracy, is Guerber, Myths of Greece and Rome. 

Review 

1. Describe the worship of the dead as practiced by the Greeks. 
What change took place in their idea of the future life ? What form of 
religion developed from their nature worship ? Name some of the gods 
with their respective attributes. 2. Describe the Delphic oracle. 
3. For what special reason did the Greeks cultivate athletics? De- 
scribe their exercises. Describe the Olympic games. What were the 
effects of the games on literature and art? 4. Define epic poetry; 
lyric poetry. What brought about the change from one form to the 
other? 5. What was the choral ode? Who was Pindar, and what did 
he write about? 6. How did the Greeks originally explain the changes 
in nature? What new explanation did Thales introduce? What is its 
importance? Define philosophy in the Greek sense. In what scientific 
directions were the Greeks now making progress? 

Additional Studies 

1. In what respects was the Greek religion superior to the Egyptian? 

2. What benefit, if any, did the Greeks derive from the oracle of Apollo? 

3. Describe the instrument held by Apollo in the picture, p. 47. Why 
did the Greeks picture Apollo in this way (Botsford, Source-Book, p. 
89) ? 4. Why should a history of the Greeks include an account of 
their literature? 5. Why in Greece was poetry written earlier than 
prose? 6. Give an example of an English epic poem; of an English 
lyric poem. 7. What were the early Greek philosophers aiming to 
discover ? 



CHAPTER V 

ATHENS IN THE AGE OF PERICLES 
461-431 B.C. 

61. Introductory. — It was the task of Athens to receive 
from the other Greeks the elements of art, literature, and 
general culture while yet in a partially developed stage, and to 
bring them to the highest degree of perfection. Originally a 
kingship, the government of this city-state changed to an aris- 
tocracy, and then by slow stages to a democracy as indicated 
above (§ 44). Thus Athens developed politically farther than 
Sparta, for in the democracy a greater percentage of the in- 
habitants shared in the government. The democracy was so 
constituted as to guarantee protection, justice, and other bene- 
fits of government to a larger proportion of the population than 
had been possible under any earlier system. It is necessary 
therefore to view this political advance as a forward step in the 
improvement of the human race. • 

62. The Population ; Slaves. — In the age of Pericles there 
were from 300,000 to 350,000 people in Attica. About 170,000 
were citizens, including the voters and their families, 40,000 
were alien residents, and from 100,000 to 150,000 were slaves. 
These facts show at once that, however far advanced Athens 
was beyond Egypt or even Sparta, her people had not yet 
adopted the idea of political equality for all men. The slaves 
differed from the freemen, not in color, but simply in nation- 
ality. Some were born in the country, but most of them were 
imported from the parts of Europe northeast of Greece, from 
Asia Minor, Syria, and more distant lands. As a rule captives 
in war were reduced to slavery, and when traders could find 

54 



Slaves and Aliens 55 

none of this class to buy up, they often resorted to kidnapping. 
The poorer Athenians, probably the majority of citizens, had 
no slaves but depended for support on the work of their own 
hands. Families of moderate wealth had at least one or two 
slaves, and we hear of a certain rich man who owned a thou- 
sand, whom he let out to work for hire in the silver mines of the 
country. Slaves did all kinds of work in the house and field, 
in the mines and shops. Some were overseers in charge of 
other slaves ; a few were well enough educated to manage their 
master's business. 

63. The Advantages and the Evils of Slavery. — The few 
wealthy persons who owned slaves, and were supported by their 
labor, had the means and the leisure to devote themselves to 
the cultivation of the mind and the taste and to devising ways 
of making life more comfortable, refined, and beautiful. It is 
true, too, that the slaves at Athens were treated well — better 
perhaps than anywhere else in the history of the world. 
We are told that they dressed like the free laborers and 
that none of them would think of stepping aside on the 
street to let a citizen pass. It often happened that one who 
had learned a trade was allowed his own time, on condition of 
paying periodically to his master a specified amount from his 
earnings. With industry such a slave could in time purchase 
his freedom. Yet after all, has been said in favor of slavery, 
it must be admitted that the institution is cruel and inhuman. 
Appreciating this fact, some of the more enlightened Greeks 
demanded, but in vain, its abolition. 

64. Resident Foreigners. — Above the slaves in rank were 
the resident aliens. Some were from Asia Minor and the 
Orient, but most of the class were from other Greek states. 
They came to enrich themselves by manufacturing and trade. 
A law of Solon (594 B.C.) required the state to admit all such 
persons to the citizenship; but as the Athenians grew more 
exclusive they accepted none but those who had done some 
great service in behalf of the state, and then only by special 
vote of the assembly. Thereafter an alien family might reside 
many generations in Attica without acquiring a right to the 



56 



Athens in the Age of Pericles 



citizenship. In this respect Athens was far different from a 
modern state. The aliens paid a poll tax for the privilege of 
residing in the country and a heavier war tax than that imposed 
on the citizens. They were required to serve in the army when 
the country was in danger of invasion. It was a great honor 
to an alien to be allowed as a special favor to buy land in the 
country, or to pay the same taxes as the Athenians, or to serve 
in the ranks with them rather than in a separate division. All 
however were on a social level with the Athenians according to 
their personal fitness. They shared in the religious festivals, 

and their boys enjoyed the 
same education. Lysias, 
one of their number, was 
a writer of speeches for 
others to deliver in their 
own behalf in the law- 
courts (§ 75). He was the 
ablest master of simple, 
natural oratory in Greece. 
Some of these aliens lived 
in Athens but most of 
them in Pei-rae'us, a port 
town about four and a 
half miles distant. The 
latter was the most famous 
industrial and commercial 
city of the Greek world. Its greatness was due largely to the 
labor and the wealth of these resident aliens. 

65. The Citizens. — ■ About a third of the citizens may be 
described as " poor." The great majority even of this class 
were self-sustaining. They were the smallest landed-proprie- 
tors, shepherds, shopkeepers, mechanics, sailors, and day- 
laborers. As life grew more complex, and greater demands 
were made on the intelligence, it was natural that the number 
of persons incompetent to earn a living for themselves should 
continually increase. Under an aristocracy such people would 
have been left to starve or would have fallen into slavery ; but 




Athenian Peasants Going to Market 

With pigs and probably vegetables. The 
man on our left wears a cap of felt or skin and 
a small wrap (himation) ; the other a waist 
cloth. The latter may be a slave. From a 
vase painting. 



Citizens 57 

the broader and more humane democracy faced the problem of 
lifting this submerged class to the plane of respectable citizen- 
ship. Some were sent off as colonists ; others were engaged in 
naval service or employed on public works. By these means 
the state was able for a long time to eliminate pauperism from 
the community. 

Above the " poor " were the still more numerous middle 
class, who were entirely free from the need or the desire of state 
aid. Many owned farms, which they cultivated with the help 
of the family or of a slave or two. On the stony mountain side 
they pastured their sheep and goats. There, too, they had their 
olive orchards, which yielded them a great abundance of oil. 
From the export of this product they derived a large income. 
In the plain they raised grain and vegetables, which brought 
fair prices in the markets of Athens and Peiraeus. Thus the 
farming class grew prosperous. Their estates were well stocked, 
and their . dwellings and barns were better than in any other 
part of Hellas. This was the class which furnished the state 
with her heavy-armed infantry, the most substantial branch of 
her military force. 

The highest social class was made up of wealthy families, 
numbering altogether 7000 or 8000 souls. They furnished the 
cavalry, filled the more important priesthoods and offices, fur- 
nished money for the religious festivals and the entertainment 
of the citizens, and paid most of the war taxes. It was chiefly 
their taste and their patronage that brought literature, sculp- 
ture, and architecture to a high stage of perfection. 

The clothing of the Athenians and of other Greeks was dis- 
tinguished for simplicity and grace, and was well adapted to 
the mild climate. The tunic (Greek chiton) was worn next to 
the body, the usual laborer's garment and the in-door dress of 
all. As a rule it was sleeveless, and the edges were joined 
together either by sewing or by pins. The length varied accord- 
ing to circumstances and the taste of the wearer ; and the tunic 
of a woman differed in style from that of a man. The outer 
garment (Greek himation), worn out-of-doors, was a wrap 
usually of oblong shape, draped gracefully about the body. 



58 



Athens in the Age of Pericles 



That of a young man in the cavalry took the form of a circular 
cape, whereas the wraps of women assumed a great variety of 
shapes and colors. The material was linen, or oftener woollen, 
which ranged from coarse homespun to finely woven and beau- 
tifully dyed textiles made by skilled weavers. They wore, too, 
sandals, shoes, boots, hats, rings, and various personal adorn- 
ments, but a profusion of jewellery was evidence of bad taste. 

66. The Children and the 
Brotherhood. — In nearly 
all ancient states the father 
had a right to kill his chil- 
dren at their birth, if he did 
not wish to bring them up. 
The custom began in bar- 
barous times and was not 
abolished by so highly civil- 
ized a state as Athens. 
But the Athenian father 
rarely made use of his right ; 
for he needed children to 
continue his family and its 
worship after him. His own 
happiness in the next world 
was secure in case only that 
he had children to bury him 
and to sacrifice at his tomb 
according to the hereditary 
family rites. In this way 
ancestor worship made par- 
ents more humane' in their 
treatment of children and bound the members of the family 
together in the closest ties of affection and of mutual helpfulness. 
In order that a person might be known as a citizen, it was 
necessary that he should be publicly recognized while still an 
infant. This function was attended to by the society known as 
the brotherhood (phratry). Every citizen family belonged to 
such an association. As the families which made up a brother- 




A Doric Woman 

In a Doric tunic (chiton), fastened at the 
shoulders with large pins and falling double 
over the waist. From a vase painting. For 
a more beautiful type of dress, see the 
Athena Parthenos, p. 68. 



Children and Education 59 

hood considered themselves related to one another in blood, 
the meeting of the society every autumn for religious worship 
and friendly intercourse had the character of a family reunion. 
At this festival the kinsmen of a child born within the past year 
presented him to the brotherhood, testifying under oath that 
he was truly the child of parents who were both Athenians and 
who were legally married. If the brotherhood accepted him on 
this evidence, he was brought up as an Athenian. Girls and 
boys alike were received in this way. 

67. The School. — After the age of seven the girl continued 
as before under the care of' her mother and received a purely 
domestic education. But the boy at that age was sent to school, 
kept by a master who was remunerated by the parents of the 
children whom he instructed. All boys, however poor, learned to 
read and write. Great care was taken in school and at home 
to teach the boy good morals and manners. He was not to see 
or hear anything vulgar or debasing, and he was kept away 
from bad company. He learned modesty, respect for his parents 
and elders, love for his country, and the other virtues which 
the Athenians cultivated. Most of all he was taught self- 
restraint and moderation. Pleasures were good, he was told, 
but nothing should be done to excess. He had to learn the 
proper way to sit, walk, dress, and eat. If the father could 
afford it, he placed over the boy as governor — pse-da'go-gos, 
" boy-leader " — a slave, generally an old man, who accom- 
panied the boy wherever he went and saw that the rules of train- 
ing were strictly obeyed. Naturally some boys and some gov- 
ernors fell short of the high ideal here described. 

68. Literature and Music. — At school the boy learned 
reading, writing, arithmetic, and a little geometry and as- 
tronomy. With a sharp iron instrument — stylus — he practiced 
writing on a tablet covered with wax. His books were rolls of 
Egyptian papyrus (§ 27). The literature he studied was poetry 
— chiefly that of Homer (§ 58) . The poems of Homer encourage 
the reader to bravery, patriotism, and the other virtues with 
which the author endows his heroes. They foster, too, a sym- 
pathy for all the varied activities of men, from the work of the 



6o 



Athens in the Age of Pericles 




potter or plowman to the public orations of kings; and they 
awaken a love for the manifold beauties of nature. 

Lessons at school were by no means the whole of an educa- 
tion. Every boy who was to have a place in respectable society 
had to learn to sing and to play on the lyre. This instruction 
was given by a special master. Care was taken that the youth 
should hear and practice those melodies only which cultivated 
the nobler feelings. 

Meantime the boy or youth regularly attended the wrestling 
ground — pal-aes'tra — for the practice of gymnastics under a 
professional teacher. There he was trained in the usual Greek 

exercises, and prepared for 
competitions at the festi- 
vals. It was only the well- 
developed boy who could 
hope for success in any of 
the activities of life. 

69. A Well-rounded Ed- 
ucation. — From what has 
been said above it is clear 
that the education of the 
youth was physical, intel- 
lectual, artistic, and moral. 
The aim was not to pre- 
pare him for business or a profession, but to make of him the 
best possible man and citizen. Meantime all his surroundings 
helped in this direction. The homes of the Athenians were un- 
comfortably small; and it was unfortunate that women and 
girls were kept closely indoors, going out only to call on friends 
or to attend religious festivals. Men and boys, however, merely 
ate and slept at home, and passed nearly all the day in the open 
air. Living close to nature, the youth came to understand it 
better than we do. In that brilliantly clear atmosphere he 
could see .objects near or far just as they were, not blurred by 
mist as they are in many other countries. He kept his own 
mind as clear, so that he could describe objects and actions 
just as they were, with perfect naturalness and truth. His sur- 



A School 



One pupil is playing the double pipe ; an- 
other, standing before him, is probably sing- 
ing. A third is writing with a stylus on a wax 
tablet. The bearded man is evidently the 
teacher. On the wall a lyre is suspended. 
From a vase painting. 



The Acropolis 



61 




62 Athens in the Age of Pericles 

roundings encouraged the growth of his imagination. He saw 
about him an endless variety of islands, seas, plains, slopes, 
and hills. From the A-crop'o-lis * of Athens he looked across 
the plain to its border of mountains, beyond which he saw other 
mountains and still others farther and farther away. His im- 
agination led him to these distant places ; it tempted his mind 
to pass from the known to the unknown on mental voyages of 
exploration. In this way he became a discoverer of new truth, 
an inventor in science or in art. Though he might never have 
handled the chisel or the brush, he was by nature an artist, 
whose taste was satisfied with nothing short of perfection in 
sculpture, architecture, and literature. In these forms of art 
the Athenians excelled all the other Greeks. 

70. Military Training. — At the age of eighteen the youth 
became a man. His name was then enrolled in the register of 
his father's township ; and he was liable to service in his coun- 
try's defence. From eighteen to twenty he was in military 
training. At the end of the first year the young soldiers had 
to give a public exhibition of their skill ; and the authorities of 
the state, if satisfied, presented each with a spear and shield. 
On this occasion the young men took an oath to honor the sacred 
arms thus granted them, to stand loyally by their comrades in 
war, to uphold the laws, and to protect their country and its 
religion. After their two years of drill and garrison duty they 
remained citizen-soldiers, liable to be called on for service till 
their sixtieth year. 2 

71. Higher Education; Festivals. — Long before the age of 
Pericles the Greeks had made a beginning of science and phi- 
losophy. Thales (§ 60) had been followed by other thinkers 
who had made important advances in mathematics and as- 
tronomy, and had continually brought forward new views re- 

1 A hill in the centre of the city, the summit of which was sacred to Athena. 
Formerly it had been the citadel. 

2 Although the sources give the briefest references to military training in this 
period, probably it was of the same general nature as a hundred years later, though 
less thorough and systematic. The account here given is of the later and better- 
known period; see Bryant, "Boyhood in Athens," Harvard Studies in Classical 
Philology, XVIII. 79. 



Higher Education, Festivals 63 

garding the nature and the origin of the world. Little attention 
had been given to the natural sciences, but the theory and prac- 
tice of medicine had reached a noteworthy stage of efficiency. 
Rhetoric, too, had recently come into existence, and was studied 
as a preparation for oratory and statesmanship. After complet- 
ing their elementary education many young men of the wealthier 
classes studied one or more of the subjects here mentioned. 
Teachers of science, philosophy, and rhetoric were called sophists. 
Their fees excluded the poor from higher education. 

Among the most powerful instruments of education, for rich 
and poor alike, were the festivals. The Pan-ath-e-nae'a — a 
festival of all the Athenians in honor of Athena — included 
musical as well as athletic competitions, the recitation of 
Homer's poems, military dances, and races of war galleys. A 
grand procession of all the Athenians and resident foreigners, 
the magistrates and priests in their official robes, the knights 
with their horses, the victorious athletes wearing their wreaths, 
girls with baskets containing the sacrifice, in brief all classes of 
the free population moved in their bright, varied attire through 
the city and up the Acropolis through its splendid portal, and 
finally to the temple of Athena — the Parthenon. The reli- 
gious object of the procession was the presentation of a robe to 
Athena. That the poor as well as rich might attend and enjoy 
such festivals, food was served at the expense of the state to 
those who wished it. Next in importance to the Panathenaea 
were the dramatic festivals held in the theatre. In every festi- 
val of this kind three poets competed each with four plays. 
The occasion was religious, the theatre a sacred building, and 
attendance an act of worship. There the citizens received their 
best religious and moral instruction ; for the dramas embodied 
the ideals of their greatest thinkers and inspired the hearers to 
rise to these ideals. The most eminent dramatic poet of the 
generation of Pericles was Soph'o-cles. The lessons in the 
fundamental principles of religion and morality conveyed by 
his dramas, and their mighty inspiration for mankind to make 
the best of its capabilities are as much needed to-day as they 
were in the century in which they were written. 



6 4 



Athens in the Age of Pericles 



II. Public Life 

72. The Township. — It is equally important that we should 
study the public life of the Athenians ; for they developed the 
art of self-government more highly than any other Greek state. 
Attica (§ 43) was divided into more than a hundred townships 
(demes), each with a local government 
— a town meeting of the voters, several 
officers, a treasury, and a public worship 
of the heroes or gods of the place. In 
attending the meetings and in filling the 
offices the townsmen gained an experi- 
ence and a feeling of responsibility 
which prepared them for the more 
serious duty of helping govern the 
state of Athens, to which they all be- 
longed. 

73. The State Government; Offi- 
cials. — Only a few great facts regarding 
the state government can be mentioned 
here. There were a thousand or more 
officials, all serving annually. A few 
of the more important magistrates were 
elected by the people in their assembly, 
and the rest were appointed by lot. 
The people could reelect a man as often 
as they wished, but the places filled by 
lot could not be repeated. 1 Among the 
magistrates were the ten generals, who 
had once been exclusively military offi- 
cers but had come to be the chief execu- 
tives with the management of the affairs of peace as well as of war. 
74. The Popular Assembly. — The people did not leave the 
whole work of government to these officials, but insisted on 
taking an active part in it themselves. They met in assembly 

1 An exception was made in favor of the Council of Five Hundred, the members of 
which could serve twice, though not in consecutive years. 




Sophocles 

Marble copy of a statue 
made shortly after his death. 
It represents a man of splen- 
did physique and great intel- 
ligence. Incidentally it illus- 
trates the manner of wearing 
the wrap (himation). Lat- 
eran Museum. 



Democracy 65 

forty times a year on fixed days, and in special sessions as often 
as seemed necessary. In some of these meetings they reviewed 
the conduct of officials with the object of punishing any who 
might prove unfaithful servants of the state; in others they 
voted on such questions as those of war, peace, colonization, 
and the erection of expensive public buildings. All resolutions 
coming before them had previously been drawn up by the 
Council of Five Hundred, filled annually by lot from the citi- 
zens above thirty years of age. Another function of the assem- 
bly, limited to a single stated meeting of each year, was to re- 
ceive from the citizens proposals for new laws. The assembly 
did not vote on these bills, however, but handed them over for 
decision to a large body of sworn jurors, who in this legislative 
capacity were termed " law-makers." 

75. The Courts. — Jurors served not only for the purpose here 
mentioned but also for the trial of cases at law. There were 
six thousand taken annually by lot from the citizens above 
thirty years of age. They were divided into panels normally 
of five hundred and one, though often smaller and occasionally 
larger. As a majority decided, the odd number was to prevent 
a tie. Each panel was presided over by a magistrate who, 
having no special knowledge of the law, could not guide the 
procedure or instruct the jury — in other words, the court con- 
sisted of a large jury without a judge. Every person involved 
in a trial as prosecutor or defendant had to plead his own case. 
There were professional writers of speeches for such occasions 
but no real lawyers. The Athenians considered these popular 
courts a necessary protection of the liberty of the common 
citizens from the oppression of the nobles and the wealthy 
(§ 44). They served this purpose well. As the people exer- 
cised personally and directly the legislative, executive, and 
judicial functions, their government was a pure democracy. 

76. Pericles. — Athens was at her best in the Age of Pericles, 
461-431 b.c. During this period, with few interruptions, he 
held the office of general by annual election. Though but one 
among ten equal magistrates, his superior ability and character 
gave him the first place on the board. He was a man of noble 



66 



Athens in the Age of Pericles 




birth, carefully educated in literature and music, a student of 
philosophy, an able commander in war, and a great orator. 

The weight of his words, the maj- 
esty of his person, and the confi- 
dence which his character inspired 
carried conviction to his hearers. 
Like every true orator Pericles felt 
deeply the emotions which he knew 
how to stir in others ; but he kept 
his feelings strictly under the control 
of his intelligence, so as to look at 
everything clearly and calmly. His 
statesmanship was distinguished for 
prudence rather than for boldness or 
originality. 

It was his aim to increase the ma- 
terial prosperity of his country. 
Under him the farmers were in 
better condition than ever before, 
as they had a good market for their 
products. He encouraged the growth 
of industry. The Athenians made 
beautiful vases, in which they exported wine, olive oil, and 
toilet perfumes. Their shops produced household furniture, 
cutlery, and armor for home 
use and for export. Far 
greater income, however, 
was derived from their com- 
merce; for they were the 
chief carriers of goods 
throughout all the region 
from the Black Sea and 
Syria to Italy and Sicily. 
This commerce they pro- 
tected with the most powerful navy then in existence. The 
normal battleship was a trireme — a vessel furnished not only 
with sails, but also with three banks of oars, operated by about 



Pericles 

The artist of this age represents 
types rather than individuals. 
All men of this period wear 
beards. The helmet indicates 
the wearer a general. British 
Museum. 




An Athenian Trireme 

Restoration from an ancient relief. Ma- 
rine Museum, Paris. At near view the three 
tiers of benches for the oarsmen are visihle. 



Public Works 



67 



two hundred rowers. Under Pericles Athens had four hundred 
ships of this description. 

77. The Parthenon. — While engaged in providing Athens 
with fleets and in organizing a maritime empire 1 under her 
control, Pericles supervised the erection of temples. The most 
famous is the Parthenon, on 
the Acropolis. It included 
two principal apartments : the 
smaller served as a treasury, 
the larger contained the image 
of the goddess Athena made 
by Phei'di-as, the greatest 
sculptor of all time. The 
statue was a wooden frame 
covered with ivory and gold. 

Pheidias also superintended 
the making of the other sculpt- 
ures which adorned the temple, 
and which had to do with the 
religious history of the city. 
The metopes are a series of 
reliefs 2 surrounding the temple 
on the outside above the 
columns. They represent 
contests between men and monsters, and are probably in- 
tended to convey an idea of the lawless time which preceded 
the orderly rule of Athena. The sculptures of the east pedi- 
ment (gable) exhibit in the midst of a group of deities the 




A Metope oe the Parthenon 

A group of Parthenon metopes repre- 
sents Lapiths, a Thessalian people, in 
combat with Centaurs, who are savage, 
violent monsters — Civilization against 
Barbarism. The artist was a master of 
athletic sculpture. British Museum. 



1 Before the great war between Greece and Persia (492-479 b.c.) the Greeks who 
occupied the eastern coast of the ^Egean Sea and the neighboring islands were under 
Persian rule (§ 35). That war not only saved the European Greeks from Persian 
conquest, but also liberated those already in subjection. After the war the Greek 
states which had thus been set free, together with many others on the coasts and 
islands of the ^Egean, formed with Athens a union for defence against Persia. It is 
known as the Delian Confederacy because it centred in the island of Delos. After- 
ward by making the allies subject to herself Athens gradually converted the con- 
federacy into an empire. 

2 Reliefs are figures projecting from the surface of the stone on which they are 
chiseled. 



68 



Athens in the Age of Pericles 




Pediment 

West pediment of the Parthenon, 
the text. Pen sketch 



birth of Athena full-grown and armed from the head of Zeus. 
In the west pediment Athena contends with Poseidon, the sea 

god, for the possession 
of Athens. She wins 
the victory and be- 
comes the guardian of 
Described in the city. The frieze is 
a continuous band of 
reliefs surrounding the temple within the colonnade. It repre- 
sents the preparation for the Panathenaic festival in honor of 
the protecting goddess (§71). The skill 
in execution, the grace, and the finish of 
these sculptures have never been rivalled. 
Most of those which still exist were 
brought to England early in the nine- 
teenth century and are now in the British 
Museum. The material of the building 
is marble from the quarries of Mount 
Pen-tel'i-cus near Marathon. The style 
is Doric, the form of architecture which 
prevailed in European Greece, whereas 
the Ionic belonged originally to the 
Greeks of Asia Minor. The beauty of 
the Doric style is severe and chaste, that 
of the Ionic is characterized by greater 
freedom and more abundant ornamenta- 
tion. The Parthenon cannot compare in 
size with the temples of Egypt or with 
the Christian cathedrals of mediaeval 
time ; but in the skilful finish of all its 
parts, in the beauty of the whole, in the 
absolute balance of dignity and grace it is 
the most nearly perfect piece of architec- 
ture ever created by human hands. 

78. Religion. — The Greek temple was not essentially a place 
of worship but rather the home of the deity. Most of the cere- 
monies of religion were performed out of doors, and consisted 




Athena Parthenos 

A colossal statue 30 feet 
in height. The helmet and 
shield show her military 
character. The tunic 
(chiton) is a common type 
of woman's dress. The 
snake, worshipped along 
with Athena, attends to 
fertilizing the soil. In her 
right hand she holds a 
winged Victory life-sized. 
From a small marble copy, 
National Museum, Athens. 



The Temple 



69 



of festivals, sacrifices, and prayer. A sacrifice was a feast in 
which the deity and his worshippers took part. Thoughtful 
men considered fear no true element of religion, but a supersti- 
tion which should be banished. In their opinion the real basis 
of the relation between gods and men was fellowship. This 
fact goes far toward explaining the fearlessness of the Greeks in 
working out the problems of government and society, of art, 
science, and philosophy. From the unity and order of nature 
some of their great thinkers, as Soc'ra-tes, reasoned that there 
must be one all-powerful and all-wise God. This conclusion 




The Parthenon 

Restored. View from the northwest. The pediment in sight represents the 
contest between Poseidon and Athena for the possession of Athens. The door in this 
end opens into the Treasure-Room. 



was with them a philosophic idea, however, and not the essen- 
tial iact of religion, as it is with the Hebrews, Mohammedans, 
and Christians. The Greeks had always believed in a future 
life ; and the mysteries connected with the worship of De-me'ter 
at El-eu'sis, a city of Attica, gave the initiated hope of eternal 
happiness. Notwithstanding beautiful and noble features, in 
its spiritual and moral aspects Greek religion was inferior to 
Christianity. 

79. Athenian Character. — The Athenians were not only 
more intensely religious than the other Greeks, but they devoted 



70 Athens in the Age of Pericles 

themselves with greater earnestness and force to political, artis- 
tic, and intellectual life. The best interpreter of their public 
character is Pericles himself. In his definition 1 of democracy- 
he includes equality before the laws and offices for the qualified. 
He calls attention also to their social liberality and kindliness. 
" There is no exclusiveness in our private intercourse. We are 
not suspicious of one another, nor angry with our neighbor if 
he does what he likes; we do not put on sour looks at him, 
which though harmless are unpleasant. . . . We have not for- 
gotten to provide our weary spirits with many relaxations from 
toil ; we have regular games and sacrifices throughout the year ; 
at home the style^of our life is refined ; and the delight which we 
daily feel in all these things helps banish sadness." The men- 
tality and the physical energy of the Athenians were in his time 
intense. " We have the peculiar power of thinking before we 
act," he asserts, " and of acting, too, whereas other men are 
courageous from ignorance but hesitate on reflection." A great 
foreign policy, such as he was pursuing, had to be based not on 
ignorant selfishness, but on kindness and generosity. " We 
alone do good to our neighbors not upon a calculation of interest 
but in a frank and fearless spirit." 

80. The Periclean Ideal. — His object in building the Par- 
thenon and other temples, in encouraging artists to produce 
the best possible painting and sculpture, in fostering literature 
and a many-sided education, was to make of the Athenians a 
people superior in mind and heart to the rest of the Greeks — a 
people whom none would be ashamed to acknowledge as teachers 
or rulers. " To sum up, I say that Athens is the school of Greece, 
and that the individual Athenian in his own person seems to 
have the power of adapting himself to the most varied forms of 
action with the utmost versatility and grace. ... In the hour 
of trial Athens alone among her contemporaries is superior to the 
report of her. No enemy who comes against her is indignant 
at the reverses which he sustains at the hands of such a city ; 
no subject complains that his masters are unworthy of him." 

1 His Funeral Oration, in Thu-cyd'i-des ii. 35-46. The language is largely that 
of the historian ; the ideas are those of Pericles. 



Studies 71 

Syllabus of the Age of Pericles 

I. Population of Attica. 

1. Slaves : number, origin, occupations, condition ; idea of abolition. 

2. Foreign residents : number, rights, and obligations ; occupations ; 

social and intellectual condition. 

3. Citizens. 

a. The poor : number, occupations ; government attitude to- 

ward ; elimination of poverty. 

b. The middle class : property and occupations ; military 

obligation ; general condition. 

c. The wealthy : number, public functions ; intellectual 

leadership. 

II. Education. 

1. Children: in power of father ; religious protection; admission 

to brotherhood. 

2. Schools : private ; morals and manners ; the " governor ; " 

elementary studies ; music and athletics ; a well-rounded edu- 
cation. 
5. Military training. 

4. Higher education : philosophy, science, rhetoric, and oratory. 

5. Festivals : religious, social, and literary features. 

III. Public life. 

1. Democracy: place in human progress (§ 61). 

2. Township: character and institutions; civic training. 

3. State government : (a) magistrates, (&) popular assembly, 

(c) council, (d) courts. 

4. Pericles : character, oratory. 

5. Religion: (a) the temple (e.g., Parthenon), (b) festival, (c) rela- 

tion between gods and men, (d) mysteries and future happi- 
ness. 

6. Athenian character : social, moral, mental ; the Periclean ideal. 

Topics for Reading 

I. The Delian Confederacy and the Athenian Empire. — Botsford, 
History of Greece, 145 f., 151-3, 169-72, 338-43; Source-Book of Ancient 
History, ch. xvii; Fling, Source-Book of Greek History, 148-51, 157-9; 
Bury, History of Greece, ch. viii, §§ 2, 5 ; ch. ix, § 5 ; Greenidge, Hand- 
book of Greek Constitutional History, 189-204. 

II. Social Day of an Athenian. — Tucker, Life in Ancient Athens, 
chs. vi, vii ; Blumner, Home Life of the Greeks, chs. v, vi. 

III. Agriculture, Industry, and Business. — Blumner, Life, ch. xiv ; 
Gulick, Life of the Ancient Greeks, chs. xvii, xviii ; Zimmern, Greek Com- 
monwealth, 222-79. 



72 Athens in the Age of Pericles 

Review 

With the syllabus of the chapter before you, comment on each topic 
in order. 

Additional Studies 

i. Why do you suppose the Americans devote themselves to money- 
making to a greater degree than did the Greeks? In what ways could 
we profit by adopting their good qualities? 2. Compare the condition 
of the ordinary slave in Attica with that of the poor man of to-day, who 
works in a factory and lives in a crowded tenement. Which condition 
seems to be the better? 3. Compare and contrast the government of 
Athens with that of Egypt. 4. How did the Greek state differ in 
principle from our own ? Could a large state be built up on the basis 
of kinship? 5. Would it be advantageous to us to make our educa- 
tion more " practical " than it is now, or more like that of the Greeks? 

6. What benefits did the citizens and the state derive from the fine arts 
and the religious festivals ? What view did Pericles take of this matter ? 

7. What were the advantages and the disadvantages of large juries? 

8. Which on the whole seems the better form of government and society, 
our own or that of Athens in the time of Pericles? 9. Write an essay 
on one of the Reading Topics. above, following directions given on p. 9, 
question 8. 10. Read Botsford, Source-Book, chs. xvii, xviii, and 
answer the questions at the close of these chapters. 



CHAPTER VI . 
THE LATER PROGRESS OF GREEK CIVILIZATION 
I. From Pericles to Alexander 

About 430-330 b.c. 

8 1. Political Sketch. — After the age of Pericles came the 
Peloponnesian War — a long struggle between Athens and 
Sparta and their respective allies (431-404 b.c). Athens was 
finally defeated. She had to give up her empire, and acknowl- 
edge Sparta as leader in war. The latter ruled for a time over 
a great part of the Greek peninsula and over the islands of the 
^Egean Sea (404-371). She was then overthrown in battle, 
whereupon Thebes, a city of Bceotia, came to be for a few years 
the leading power in Greece (371-362). After Thebes declined, 
Macedon came to the front. During all this period wars were 
going on among the city-states. Yet the Greeks were taking 
more and more interest in other things than in war and politics. 

82. Growth of Individualism. — The principle that the 
citizens exist for the good of the state had prevailed at Athens 
in the Age of Pericles and was still enforced by Sparta ; but the 
Greeks were generally outgrowing it. They were thinking 
more of their own pleasures and comforts. They built better 
dwellings, frescoed the interior walls with pictures, bought 
better furniture and food, and paid more attention to their 
cooking. The Athenians, for example, who remained the most 
enlightened and progressive of all the Greeks, were ready to 
defend their city when attacked ; but they were no longer will- 
ing to undergo hardships and risk their lives in trying to gain 
the supremacy over others. This increasing love of peace went 

73 



74 



From Pericles to Alexander 



hand in hand with a gentler, more humane spirit in the treat- 
ment of strangers and inferiors. 

83. History. — We notice, too, an increasing desire for 
knowledge of various kinds. A longing to know what the 
people of past ages had achieved brought History into being. 
Through the age of Pericles and for a few years afterward lived 
He-rod'o-tus, the " Father of History." Thousands of years 
earlier the Orientals had begun to write chronicles, mere enu- 




Country Dwelling of a Wealthy Greek 

Restoration. The home in the country is larger and more comfortable than in the 
city. Through the front door we pass into an open court and thence into the main 
building. From Malet, 'Antiquite.' 



merations of events ; but Herodotus was the first to write real 
history, which joins events in a narrative and treats of their 
causes and effects and of the character of persons and nations. 
His History gives a detailed account of the great war between 
the Greeks and the Persians, including the events leading up 
to it. Much of his information he got by travel and personal 
inquiry. Without hesitation he wrote down whatever he heard, 
including many fictions; hence we call him uncritical. Yet 
the anecdotes and even the myths, as he relates them, throw 



History and Philosophy 75 

such light upon the character of the people of whom he writes, 
that we must consider him one of the truest, as he is certainly 
the most charming, of historians. 

Slowly the idea arose that useful knowledge could be imparted 
through literature. It was with this object that Thu-cyd'i-des, 
about a generation after Herodotus, wrote his History of the 
Peloponnesian War. In it the political and military details 
of this war are minutely narrated for the instruction of states- 
men and generals. The author took great pains to ascertain 
the truth ; we consider him therefore the first distinctly critical 
historian. Though more profound and accurate than Herodo- 
tus, he was not so broad-minded or so human and sympathetic. 
For these reasons he is less attractive to the majority of readers. 
The ideal historian would combine the critical spirit of Thu- 
cydides with the breadth of sympathy of Herodotus. 

84. The Sophists. — For a long time science and especially 
philosophy were studied for the pure love of knowledge. In the 
age of Pericles, however, a class of men, termed Sophists, 
arose who professed to teach in these fields only such things as 
were useful. Their chief aim was to prepare young men for 
statesmanship. In addition to oratory they gave instruction 
in language, public life, morals, and various other subjects. 
Grammar, phonetics, the criticism of literature, ethics, and 
political science originated with them. Some were able, con- 
scientious men. Others were mere jugglers with words who 
taught " to make the worse cause appear the better," and thus 
gave to the term sophist the bad meaning which it still retains. 
The spirit of the entire class was sceptical toward all existing 
beliefs and customs. 

85. Socrates (469-399). — The evils of sophistry were com- 
bated by Soc'ra-tes, a man whose thoughts and character 
have left a deep impression upon the world for all time. In 
personal appearance he was " the ugliest of the sons of men." 
With his enormously large bald head, protruding eyes, flat 
nose, and thick lips, he resembled the satyr masks in the shop 
windows at Athens. Big-bodied and bandy-legged, he stalked 
like a pelican through the streets. But beneath this ugly 



7 6 



From Pericles to Alexander 



exterior was a mind of extraordinary power. This genius he 
devoted to a search for truth through conversation with any- 
one he chanced to meet. He would ask pointed questions 
requiring specific answers. While laying bare the false logic 
of the majority of sophists, he proceeded to found a true scien- 
tific method. In this task he limited himself wholly to moral 
duties, inquiring for instance what was just and what unjust; 
what was bravery and what cowardice ; what a state was, and 
what the character of a statesman. From an examination of 
concrete facts he formed precise definitions of these and other 
subjects under consideration. The scien- 
tific method of reasoning which he thus 
established is called induction — the in- 
ference of a general truth from partic- 
ular facts. Thus Socrates furnished 
ethics with a foundation that will endure 
as long as human intelligence continues. 
Though he acknowledged the existence 
of many gods, he believed in the rule 
of one Supreme Being. Man, he taught, 
must have religion as well as philosophy. 
We should be virtuous, not only because 
virtue is useful to us, but also because 
it is pleasing to God. God is good be- 
cause he likes that very conduct which 
is most to our own advantage. In this way he reconciled 
knowledge with faith. 

After a life of useful teaching, Socrates, at the age of seventy, 
was brought to trial on the charge of having corrupted the 
youth and of having acted impiously toward the gods. In fact 
he had done the opposite. The jury condemned him to death. 
Though he might have escaped from the country, he con- 
sidered it the duty of a good citizen to obey the laws, even when 
unjustly administered. By his cheerful submission to the law, 
he crowned a useful life with the death of a saint and martyr. 
Inspired by his wonderful personality, his disciples scattered 
throughout the Greek world, to found schools of philosophy 




Socrates 



Notably ugly in appear- 
ance, and here represented 
with great fidelity. Marble, 
Capitoline Museum, Rome. 



Socrates, Plato, Aristotle 77 

based on his teachings. Through them Socrates has influenced 
the thought of the world even to the present day. 

86. Plato (427-347); Aristotle (384-322). — The most fa- 
mous pupil of Socrates was Plato, one of the greatest philoso- 
phers of all time. He taught in his house near the Academy, 
a public garden at Athens ; and this place gave its name to the 
school of thought he founded. He was not only a profound 
thinker but a brilliantly gifted poet and a man of the noblest 
moral aims. His teaching centred about his doctrine of ideas. 
According to his view, ideas are the sole realities ; they are eter- 
nal and unchangeable, and exist only in heaven; the things 
which we see in this world are mere copies of these heavenly 
forms. 

While engaged in teaching, Plato embodied his views in 
Dialogues. They are not dry, abstract discussions ; but are 
full of personal incidents, interesting touches of character, and 
above- all, poetic beauty. The greatest of his works is the 
Republic, in which he sets forth his ideal state. It was an aris- 
tocracy, composed of " workers " and " guardians." The 
workers were to do all the labor, mechanical and agricultural. 
Practically they were serfs. The guardians comprised the 
soldiers and the governing class. The latter were all philoso- 
phers. Among the guardians women were to have the same 
training as men, and the same rights and duties. It was the 
idealized Spartan system. The value of this Dialogue lies not 
in the system as a whole, which was altogether impracticable, 
but in individual suggestions for the improvement of society 
and in the moral tone and inspiration of the work. 

From Thales (§ 60) to Plato scientific knowledge had been 
increasing. Aristotle, the most illustrious of Plato's pupils, 
by his own research added vastly to the contents of science. 
At the same time by emphasizing induction (§ 85) he greatly 
improved the method of scientific inquiry. It was his achieve- 
ment also to organize existing knowledge into departments, 
which with modifications and enlargements remain to the 
present day. His Metaphysics deals. with the abstruse prob- 
lems of philosophy. In his works on Logic he treats elaborately 



78 From Pericles to Alexander 

of reasoning. Closely related are his Rhetoric and Art of 
Poetry. His Ethics is a treatment of conduct on a purely scien- 
tific basis, wholly disconnected with religious sanctions. His 
method of research may be illustrated in connection with his 
Politics. Assisted by his pupils, he first composed a history 
and description of a hundred and fifty-eight constitutions, 
mostly of Greek states. On the basis of the facts thus gathered 
he set forth in the Politics the principles of government. The 
works thus far enumerated remain among the highest authori- 
ties in the fields they represent. His studies of nature, on the 
other hand, including Physics, Meteorology, Astronomy, 
Zoology, and Botany (now lost), though a great advance be- 
yond his predecessors, have been outgrown by modern progress. 
His prodigious achievements and the vast influence of his work 
on after time have made his name the greatest in the intel- 
lectual history of the world. 

87. Sculpture. — It has been stated above that after the 
Age of Pericles the individual gained importance at the expense 
of the state. This tendency expressed itself not only in social 
and public life but also in art. In his time sculpture was 
severe and restrained. In representing a man, for instance 
Pericles, the sculptor took no account of individual peculiar- 
ities but aimed to express the type. Thus the bust of Pericles x 
represents not so much the real Pericles as the typical Athe- 
nian statesman and general. The artist aimed equally to elim- 
inate emotion of every kind and to exhibit the person as 
perfectly calm and self-controlled. These are the qualities of 
ideal art. 

In the course of the fourth century, however, with the growth 
of individuality, the artist strove to express emotions. In 
other words, his art became more realistic. His sculptures 
were less severe and dignified but freer and more graceful. 
Most of the statues now collected in the museums of the world 
are late, imperfect copies of the masterpieces. We have, how- 
ever, in the museum at Olympia, Greece, the greater part of a 
statue of the god Hermes by Praxiteles, the most famous 

1 P. 66, 



Sculpture 



79 



sculptor of the period we are now studying. This artist stands 
midway between the extremes above mentioned ; he combines a 
high degree of strength and dignity with perfect grace of form 
and posture ; and 
he adds a delicacy 
in the treatment of 
the surface which 
no one else had 
equalled. The pic- 
ture in the text 
shows this wonder- 
ful treatment of the 
surface and at the 
same time the natu- 
ralness of the head, 
neck, and shoul- 
ders. The person 
represented, how- 
ever, does not seem 
to us to be a god; he 
is rather the ideal 
Athenian youth — 
a physically perfect 
athlete. The 
graceful curves and 
pose of a statue by 
Praxiteles can best 
be seen from a copy of his Satyr now in Rome — well-known 
to readers of Hawthorne's Marble Faun. Leaving subjects 
of grief and pain to others, this artist preferred to express 
the sunny features of human nature ; and in this respect he 
was a true child of his age. The states were still free ; and 
in spite of petty wars life was in general more quiet, pleasant, 
and happy than it had ever been before in Greece. 




The Hermes of Praxiteles 

Described in the text. Marble statue, Museum of 
Olympia, Greece. 



8o 



The Alexandrian Age 



II. The Macedonian Empire and the Alexandrian Age 

88. Macedon. — We have now reviewed the greatest age 
of Greece. During that time Athens was the most brilliant 
of many famous Greek cities, the best example of a Greek democ- 
racy, and a community which has excelled all others in liter- 
ature, sculpture, and architecture. Devoted to the affairs of 

peace, the Athenians and the other 
Greeks gradually lost their martial en- 
ergy; and as they would not unite in 
one strong state, they were doomed to 
become the prey of a more warlike and 
more powerful neighbor. Mac'e-don, the 
conquering state here referred to, was 
inhabited by a people closely related to 
the Greeks, but far less advanced in 
civilization. They were peasants, shep- 
herds, and huntsmen, rough and hardy, 
the best material for the making of sol- 
diers. About the middle of the fourth 
century B.C. this country came under 
The Satyr or Praxiteles the rule of Philip. An able commander 

A satyr is a mythical being and a clever diplomatist, he began 
of human form but with the rapidly by f orce or fraud to annex to his 
ears and tail of a goat, atten- kingdom the neighboring Greek states 

dant on the god Dionysus. ° ° ° 

in this satyr the goat fea- and to entangle those more distant in 
tures are scarcely visible. t h e web of his intrigue. The man who 

Roman copy, Capitoline , . r ,, , , ,, . , , lr r , j 

Museum, Rome. stood forth boldly m behalf of freedom 

was De-mos'the-nes of Athens, the most 
eminent orator the world has known. Demosthenes and Philip 
represented two great principles in conflict, local freedom strug- 
gling to maintain itself against imperialism. In spite of all the 
splendid efforts of the orator and statesman imperialism tri- 
umphed, and Greece became subject to Philip. 

89. Alexander. — His son Alexander (336-323 B.C.) in a 
series of brilliant campaigns subdued Egypt, the Persian empire, 
and the adjacent parts of Asia. It was the largest country thus 




Supremacy of Macedon 



81 



far united under one government. The most important result 
of this conquest was the extension of Greek civilization over 
Egypt and western Asia ; and the chief means to this end was 
the planting of Greek colonies in various parts of the empire. 
Soon after Alexander's death his empire divided into three king- 
doms — Macedon, Egypt, and in Asia the realm of the Se- 
leu'ci-dae l ; but the policy of encourag- 
ing Greek civilization continued. 

The most famous of the colonies 
founded by Alexander was Alexandria, 
Egypt. Every Greek settlement in the 
Orient engaged in manufacturing and 
commerce. More favorably situated 
than any other, Alexandria soon became 
the industrial and commercial centre of 
the known world. Her trade routes 
reached eastward to India and westward 
over all the shores of the Mediterra- 
nean. Her people busied themselves 
with making paper (§ 27), blowing glass, 
preparing toilet perfumes and incense, 
ointments and drugs, composing mosaics, 
and weaving tapestries and other rich 
textiles. 

90. Science : Mathematics and Mechanics. — In every 
Greek city lived not only business men but also poets, artists, 
philosophers, scholars, and scientists. Alexandria became the 
chief of these many centres of intellectual life. In the so- 
called Alexandrian Age, extending from the death of the great 
conqueror to the Roman conquest of Greece, 323-146 B.C., 
ancient science and scholarship reached their highest point of 
development. 

For progress in mechanics a thorough knowledge of mathe- 




Alexander 

Idealized ; the face is emo- 
tional and the hair resembles 
that of Apollo. Capitoline 
Museum. 



1 The Seleucidae were the descendants of Seleucus, a general under Alexander who 
made himself king of this region. Ptolemy, another general, obtained Egypt as his 
realm, which continued under his descendants, the Ptolemies, till the Roman con- 
quest (31 B.C.). 
G 



82 



The Alexandrian Age 



ma tics is necessary. This want was partly supplied by Eu'clid's 
Elements, a treatise on geometry so precise, clear, and logical 
that it forms the basis of every modern work on the subject. 
More inventive was Ar-chi-me'des of Syracuse, whose field in- 
cluded both pure and applied mathematics. His work shows 
an acquaintance with certain principles of higher algebra and 

of calculus. He dis- 
covered, too, a means of 
computing specific gravity 
and of measuring the area 
of the circle and the con- 
tents of the sphere, cone, 
and other objects of com- 
plex or irregular form. 
Among his mechanical 
inventions were engines 
for hurling great missiles, 
with which his country- 
men long defended their 
city against the besieging 
Romans; the helix for 
launching ships and mov- 
ing other great weights, 
and a pumping engine. 
He and other mechanical 
engineers of his time em- 
ployed water pressure 
(hydromechanics) and air 
pressure (pneumatics) for 
various purposes. Among 
the machines in use were 
water-mills and windmills, pipe organs operated by hand or by 
water pressure, fire engines for throwing a jet of water by com- 
pressed air, and sprinklers for purifying the body before entering 
a temple. 1 Though acquainted with the principle of the steam 

1 To this list might be added the siphon, the jack for hoisting weights, the dredge, 
the endless ropeway or chain, and the fire squirt. 




A Greek Pipe Organ 

Operated by water pressure. From the MS. 
of Heron's ' Pneumatics.' He was a Greek 
scientist who lived in Alexandria, perhaps 
about ioo a.d., and who drew a part of his 
material from earlier writers. 



The Sciences 



83 



engine, they made no practical use of it. In fact Greek inven- 
tors neglected the production of labor-saving devices but applied 
their talent rather to the creation of mechanical toys for the 
entertainment of the public. The reason is in part slavery, 
which cheapened labor, and perhaps even more the lack of a 
desire among most Greeks to accumulate large fortunes. Or we 
may well imagine the Greeks bringing about the Industrial 
Revolution (ch. xxvii), if only their coun- 
try had abounded in good mineral coal. 

91. Science: Geography, Astronomy, 
and Medicine. — The campaigns of 
Alexander greatly enlarged the bounds of 
geographical knowledge and stimulated 
men to explore other regions then un- 
known. The new information thus 
gathered was published in geographies. 
Greek scientists had long believed the 
earth to be round ; and in the age we are 
now reviewing Er-a-tos'the-nes, the geog- 
rapher, computed its circumference at 
about 28,000 miles, which is remarkably 
near the truth. He believed, too, that 
the opposite side of the earth was inhabited, 
and that India could be reached by sailing 
west across the Atlantic, were it possible 
to make so long a voyage. Similar ad- 
vances were made in astronomy. It was 
found that the sun is many times as large 
as the earth, and that the earth revolves on its axis and around 
the sun. This truth was rejected, however, by most scientists 
in favor of the view afterward known as the Ptol-e-ma'ic 
system, after the astronomer Ptolemy, which represents the 
earth as the centre of the universe. 

Meanwhile in physiology He-roph'i-lus found that the brain 
is the seat of the mind, and that the nerves are of two kinds, for 
conveying the feeling and the will respectively. He discovered, 
too, substantially the circulation of the blood. Many of these 




A Greek Steam Boiler 

The ball is kept in space 
by the pressure of steam 
issuing from a boiling 
cauldron. From the MS. 
of Heron's 'Pneumatics.' 



84 



The Alexandrian Age 



truths were rejected at the time or soon forgotten, to be redis- 
covered in recent years. In the same age the practice of medi- 
cine became more scientific than before; anaesthetics were 
used ; and surgeons acquired great skill. 

92. The Zoological Park, the Library, and the Museum. — 
One of the kings of Egypt founded a zoological park, in which 
he and his successors gathered many varieties of animals from 
all the known parts of the earth. It served not only as an at- 
traction to visitors but as an incen- 
tive to the study of nature. Schol- 
ars could now write fuller and more 
accurate works on zoology and bot- 
any. A greater institution was the 
Library, in which the kings gathered 
the largest collection of books in the 
ancient world. In this period the 
number of volumes, including 
duplicates, amounted to 500,000. 
A volume (roll) was not an entire 
work but a large division (book) of 
a work. For example, the History 
written by Herodotus contains nine 
such books. 

The Museum was an association 
of scholars, and in this sense it im- 
plied devotion to the Muses. The 
king granted the society quarters in 
the palace, including a dining-hall, 
a pleasant garden with seats, and 
porticoes for walking, conversation, and lectures. It was a 
school of research under a president appointed by the king. 
The librarian, rather than this official, was generally the most 
eminent scholar in the world. All the expenses of maintaining 
the park, library, and museum were defrayed from the royal 
treasury. 

93. Scholarship. — In the museum and the library scien- 
tists devoted themselves to the discovery of new truth; and 




Apollo Belvedere 

Marble statue, Hellenistic age, 
Vatican. His attitude is defen- 
sive ; as a healing god he seems to 
be warding off pestilence. The 
posture is theatrical and the long 
hair is elaborately arranged. 



Scholarship 85 

scholars were equally busy with systematizing existing knowl- 
edge. They compared and criticised the manuscripts of earlier 
authors with a view' to preparing correct texts. They wrote 
commentaries on the language and style of these works, and 
composed histories of the various departments of literature. 
Others produced biographies, political histories, and works on 
philosophy. Many wrote poetry, less however from inspira- 
tion than for the display of their learning and skill. Outside 
the field of science the Greeks had nearly ceased to create. 
Literature was scholarly but not original. The fine arts were 
an imitation, or at best an elaboration, of earlier models. The 
Apollo Belvedere, for instance, a statue chiselled in this period, 
is graceful and delicately finished, but lacks the naturalness 
and the strength which we find in the sculpture of the best 
period. 

Topics for Reading 

I. The Peloponnesian War. — Botsford, History of the Ancient 
World, chs. xix, xx; Source-Book of Ancient History, chs. xix, xx; Fling, 
Source-Book of Greek History, 174-239; Holm, History of Greece, II. chs. 
xxi-xxiv, xxvii, xxviii; Bury, History of Greece, chs. x, xi. 

II. The Spartan Supremacy. — Botsford, Ancient World, ch. xxii ; 
Source-Book, ch. xxii ; Fling, 250-76 ; Holm, III. chs. i-viii ; Sankey, 
Spartan and Theban Supremacies, chs. i-xi. 

III. Alexander. — Hogarth, Philip and Alexander of Macedon, 
159-282; Wheeler, Alexander the Great, chs. ii, hi (boyhood and educa- 
tion) ; xxii (his great battles) ; xxxi (death, character, and achieve- 
ments). 

IV. Science and Inventions. — Botsford and Sihler, Hellenic Civili- 
zation, ch. xviii. 

V. Social Conditions after 337 B.C. — Botsford and Sihler, ch. xix. 

Review 

1. Give a brief sketch of Greek history from Pericles to Demos- 
thenes. 2. Define individualism. Explain the changed character of 
the Athenians ; their changed home-life and its ' influence on their 
patriotism. 3. How did the writing of history originate? Who was 
the first historian? Describe his history. What did Thucydides 
write? Compare him with Herodotus. 4. Who were the sophists? 
What did they teach? 5. Describe the personal appearance of Socrates. 
What were his principles ? What method of reasoning did he follow ? 



86 The Alexandrian Age 

6. Who was Plato? What school did he found? Explain his ideas. 
What did he write? Describe the social system contained in his Re- 
public. 7. Who was Aristotle? How did . he differ from Plato? 
Name and describe his chief works. What was his influence on after 
time? 8. Who was Praxiteles ? Name and describe some of his works. 
How did he differ from Pheidias? 9. Describe from the map the 
situation of Macedon. Give an account of Philip's career ; of his con- 
flict with Demosthenes. 10. Who was Alexander, and what were his 
achievements? 11. For what were Euclid and Archimedes respec- 
tively famous? What did the Greeks accomplish in mathematics and 
mechanics? 12. How much of the earth's surface were they acquainted 
with? What did they know of its form, size, and movement? What 
was the Ptolemaic system? 13. What progress did the Greeks make 
in physiology, medicine, and surgery? 14. Describe the Library at 
Alexandria; the Zoological Park; the Museum. 15. With what did 
scholars busy themselves? 

Additional Studies 

1. Are the fourth-century conditions described in § 82 an improve- 
ment on the Age of Pericles? Give reasons for your opinion. 2. Be- 
sides the ancient historians what sources of knowledge have we con- 
cerning the Greeks? Are statues and buildings sources of knowledge? 
3. What does the sculpture of the fourth century teach us in regard to 
the changing character of the Greeks ? 4. Why should we study Soc- 
rates and Plato in connection with Greek history? Why is it that what 
people think may be more important than what they do? 5. Why did 
Philip succeed in conquering the Greeks ? Did the Greeks gain or lose 
by the change of condition? 6. Was Alexander's empire an improve- 
ment on the Persian? 7. In what respects does the Alexandrian age 
seem like our own? 8. Which had the higher civilization, Athens in 
the age of Pericles or Alexandria in the third century B.C. ? 9. Write 
a syllabus of this chapter like the one on p. 71. 10. Write an essay 
on one of the Reading Topics above, following the directions given on 
p. 9, last question. 11. Read Botsford, Source-Book, chs. xix-xxvii, 
and answer the questions at the close of these chapters. 



CHAPTER VII 

THE GROWTH OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 

From about 750 to 27 B.C. 

94. Greece and Rome in the World's Progress. — The free- 
dom we now enjoy, the right to think, speak, and act as we 
choose under the laws which we and our fathers have established, 
our education, our interest in athletic and intellectual compe- 
titions, our love of the beautiful in nature and art — in brief, 
nearly everything which makes life worth living, was originally 
created by the Greeks. In time, however, as ancient civiliza- 
tion declined, most of these contributions were lost to the world. 
They have been regained by the moderns partly through the 
revival of ancient studies (§§ 244-268) and partly through 
their own labors and experiences during the period extending 
from the Middle Ages to the present time. 

The Greek states failed because they were too small and 
weak to maintain their liberties against neighboring powers. 
It was left to Rome to combine, during a long period, a high 
degree of local independence with imperial strength. This 
contribution of Rome to the world's progress will now be ex- 
plained. 

95. Occupations of the Early Romans. — Rome was origi- 
nally a city-state like Athens or Sparta. Ruled at first by 
kings, it became a republic in 509 B.C. At this time the amount 
of land included in the state was about three hundred and fifty 
square miles, and the inhabitants numbered about 60,000 men, 
women, and children. In contrast with the Greeks, the Romans 
were an unimaginative people, who were very slow to appre- 
ciate education, literature, and art. For more than two cen- 

87 



88 The Growth of the Roman Empire 

turies after the founding of the republic they had no schools 
whatever, and few therefore could read and write. Most of 
them were farmers. The average citizen had a field of no more 
than perhaps two or three acres. He was fortunate who had 
a yoke of oxen for ploughing, for many a peasant had to till his 
farm with a hoe. He raised grain and vegetables ; and his cattle 
or sheep, if he had any, were allowed to graze on the public 
pasture. These people were the commons (ple-bei'ans, plebs). 
There were a few nobles (pa-tri'ci-ans) who owned larger farms. 

The city was situated on a group of seven hills on the left 
bank of the Tiber river about fourteen miles from its mouth. 
On a piece of low ground near the centre was the Forum — market- 
place. Extending along the sides were the wooden booths in 
which the people could buy their meat, vegetables, and bread. 
In others the tradesmen plied their vocations and offered their 
wares for sale, including shoes, pottery, shields, helmets, swords, 
and other weapons, bronze and iron wares, and silver and gold 
trinkets. They carried on a small trade with the E-trus'cans 
across the Tiber, and in row-boats up and down the river. A 
few articles of luxury came in from the Greek colonies in south- 
ern Italy and Sicily. The Romans produced almost nothing 
to give in exchange for these imports, but in their frequent wars 
they took many prisoners whom they could sell as slaves. 

96. Subjection to Authority in the Family. — As the Romans 
thought only of the affairs of everyday life, they did not feel 
the need of individual freedom, as did the Greeks. The father, 
as long as he lived, was absolute master of his children and 
grandchildren. At her marriage the daughter passed from the 
authority of the father to that of her husband, so that she 
never became free. The son remained in subjection till his 
father's death. Even if the son should become a magistrate, 
the father had a right to flog him or to sell him into slavery. 
This paternal power, however, was exercised, not capriciously, 
but in accordance with customs that were handed down through 
the generations. The habit of obedience, of subjection to 
authority, was so thoroughly implanted in the young that it 
became a part of their nature. 



Subjection to Authority 89 

97. Subjection to Authority in the State. — When the sons 
grew to manhood, they carried with them into civic life the 
habit of subordination to the authorities of the state. Once a 
year all the citizens met in assembly to elect their chief magis- 
trates, the two consuls. When these officers wanted to pass 
a new law or to begin a war, they called the citizens together, 
and made the proposal ; and the people without debate voted 
to accept or to reject the motion. 

With the help of the senate, made up of about three hundred 
influential citizens, the consuls ruled with far greater power 
than is allowed to the President of the United States or to the 
king of Great Britain to-day. To their commands the people 
yielded the strictest obedience. When it came about that the 
poorer class were oppressed, and many were sold into slavery 
for debts, the people had no thought of curing the evil by mak- 
ing the government more democratic ; they merely instituted 
ten new officers, termed tribunes of the plebs, to watch over 
the welfare of the commons and to protect them from oppres- 
sion. 

98. The Growth of the Empire. — Next to the founding of 
the free city-state of the Greeks, the most important political 
event in ancient history is the growth of the Roman empire. 
The Romans, with their limited intelligence, their prosaic 
nature, and their habit of obedience, made better soldiers than 
could be found in Greece. Their laborious lives, too, rendered 
them hardy and enduring. At the same time their means 
of living were so scant, and the population was growing so 
rapidly, that on the slightest pretext they went to war and seized 
hungrily the lands of their neighbors. 

Hence it was that from the small beginnings described above 
Rome rapidly extended her supremacy over all the peninsular 
part of Italy (about 400-264 B.C.). Thus far the first step only 
had been taken. In the next hundred and thirty years (264- 
133 B.C.), through a new series of wars, Rome brought under 
her power a belt of countries extending entirely round the Medi- 
terranean, bounded on the west by the Atlantic and on the east 
by the Euphrates river. Further wars were required to reduce 



9 o 



The Growth of the Roman Empire 



some of the allied states of this region to the condition of sub- 
jects, and some new conquests were afterward made. 

99. Causes of Roman Greatness. — Among the causes of 
this wonderful expansion of power was the solid, persevering 
character of the Romans, who were never cast down by defeat 
and never over-elated by victory. It would have been impos- 
sible for them, however, to win control of so great a territory 
by brute strength alone. In fact many communities came 




Roman Soldiers Marching 

Showing the military emblems, shields, breastplates and lances. 
'Atlas of Classical Antiquities.' 



From Schreiber, 



willingly under their authority; many others offered but a 
half-hearted resistance ; a few only, and they the less civilized 
peoples of Europe, fought desperately in defence of their lib- 
erties. 

In the territory ruled by Carthage and throughout the Orient 
the masses had no interest whatever in defending their country. 
They were slaves, or at best serfs, whose spirits had been crushed 
by centuries of grinding labor. The freemen were either me- 
chanics and shopkeepers, who lacked the physical endurance 




THE ROMAN EMPIRE 

at its 

GREATEST EXTENT 

27 B.C.- 305 A.D. 

SCA1E OF MILES 



100 50 100 200 300 400 500 



'"""' - **• Boundary at Death of Augustus ; 

Beyond this the later additions. 

Italics,- Barbarian races which, after Marcus 

Aurelius. appear in the places indicated.. 



Warfare 



9i 



necessary to military life, or the rich, who would rather submit 
to a foreign yoke than give up their ease and their luxuries. 
Like the Athenians in the age of Philip and Alexander, they 
were in no condition to withstand a virile, military power. It 
often happened, too, that the smaller or weaker communities 
looked to Rome for protection from their stronger neighbors. 

In addition to these advantages the Romans had an efficient 
military system. Adopting the phalanx from the Greeks (§51), 
they divided it into small companies with a view to lightness 
and flexibility. The de- 
fensive armor was about 
the same as the Greek; 
but for offence they de- 
pended greatly upon the 
javelin, a short spear for 
hurling. Coming near to 
the enemy, the front line 
of the Romans threw their 
javelins into the opposing 
ranks, and then with 
drawn swords charged 
upon the confused foemen. 
Many a victory they 
gained in this way. Like 
the Greeks, they had 
heavy and light infantry, 

cavalry, machines for throwing stones and darts, and rams 
for battering the gates of besieged cities. 

100. Local Self-government. — The Romans found, too, in 
their method of government a help in building up their power. 
The small city and territory which they originally occupied 
needed but a few simple institutions — assembly, senate, and 
a few magistrates — for its government. While engaged in 
gaining control of other states, they rarely created a new office 
or changed the nature of an old institution to meet new condi- 
tions. Lacking the means of administering the internal affairs 
of annexed communities, they allowed each to carry on its own 




A Catapult 

Restoration. For throwing darts, whereas 
the ballista hurled stones. These two ma- 
chines, with the battering ram, were the prin- 
cipal siege engines. 



92 The Growth of the Roman Empire 

government with little or no interference on their part. The 
empire in the first century B.C. was accordingly not one vast 
state, but rather a loose collection of states, which varied greatly 
in population, in customs and laws, in government, and in 
degree of independence. In general they were (i) the allies of 
Rome, whether kingships or republics, which paid no tribute 
but helped with military forces and supplies in war, (2) the sub- 
ject states, which paid an annual tribute. 

101. The Provinces. — A group of subject states occupying 
a definite country, as Sicily or Syria, was organized as a province. 
Each province was governed by an officer sent out from Rome. 
It is to be noticed that during the republic and for a long time 
under the principate (§120) the governor limited himself mostly 
to maintaining peace in his province, and to general supervision 
over the relations of the communities to one another and to 
Rome. With their internal affairs he had little to do. 

The privilege of collecting the tributes was let out by auction 
to the highest bidders. In some instances this auctioning took 
place at Rome, in others in the provinces. In the latter case 
the provincial cities had an opportunity to bid for the collection 
of their own tributes, and they were glad to do this in order to 
keep foreign tax-collectors from their territories. 

The provinces of Rome, together with her dependent allies, 
constituted her empire. She retained her republican govern- 
ment for a long time after she began to acquire provinces ; and 
for this period accordingly we may describe her as an imperial 
republic, like the United States since the acquisition of the 
Philippine Islands. 

102. Abuses of Government. — It is important to study 
the effect of these new conditions on both the subjects and the 
governing people. The Romans looked upon the provincials 
as an inferior class, to whom they owed little or no duty. The 
best the subjects could expect of a governor was strict justice 
devoid of sympathy. Generally officials and private specula- 
tors found in the provinces merely a means of enriching them- 
selves at the expense of the inhabitants. By restricting their 
trade, by extortion and oppression, the Romans got into their 



The Need of Reform 93 

hands a great part of the wealth of the subject countries. Every- 
where they acquired vast estates worked by slaves, or by ten- 
ants who were on the verge of serfdom. This policy was 
ruinous to the provincials, and soon compelled them to regret 
their subjection to Rome. 

Its evil effects made themselves felt also in Italy and Rome. 
The system of great estates displaced the little farms of the 
free Italian peasants and reduced them to beggary. Unable to 
compete with Rome, the once prosperous towns of Italy fell 
to ruins. The impoverished peasants and traders flocked to 
the capital. As most labor, skilled and unskilled, was done 
by slaves, it was impossible for so many free people to find a 
livelihood in the great city. Thus grew up a mob of idlers, 
dependent on the charity of wealthy patrons, who received 
their votes in exchange for gifts of food and exhibitions of gladia- 
torial rights. The chasm between the very rich and the very 
poor kept widening. The population rapidly declined. The 
army, recruited from the peasant class, so weakened as to cause 
alarm for the safety of the empire. 

103. Tiberius Gracchus. — Amid the corruption and the 
self-seeking of the time a few men could be found of pure char- 
acter and patriotic aims. Most noteworthy were the brothers 
Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus. They were young men of the 
noblest birth and of excellent education. Had they wished 
to cast their lot with their own social class, they might have 
passed their lives in easy enjoyment. But they preferred to 
devote themselves to the cause of the poor and to the best 
interests of the state. Tiberius, the elder, became a tribune 
of the plebs in 133 B.C. Before this time the tribunes by vari- 
ous means had come to be more powerful even than the consuls. 

Tiberius interested himself chiefly in the land question. By 
conquest and in other ways the Roman state had acquired 
vast tracts of land in Italy and the provinces. Most of it was 
used by the rich, who ought legally to have paid rents on it to 
the government, but who, through the negligence of the magis- 
trates, had long avoided payment and had come to regard the 
land as their own. As tribune Tiberius proposed a law that 



94 



The Growth of the Roman Empire 



all this public land, over and above 500-1000 acres l to the 
family, should be taken from the present holders and distrib- 
uted in lots of not more than thirty acres among the needy. 
His bill was adopted ; and in so far as it was carried into effect, 
it tended to restore the peasantry. Meantime Tiberius be- 
came candidate for the tribuneship for a second year. When 

the people came together 
to vote in the election, a 
mob of senators dis- 
persed them, and mur- 
dered Tiberius. This 
act was the beginning 
of a revolution which 
was to end a hundred 
years later in the over- 
throw of the republic. 

104. Gaius Gracchus. 
— Ten years after the 
death of Tiberius, his 
brother Gaius held the 
same office. As a relief 
to the poor, who were 
threatened with starva- 
tion, he carried through 
the assembly a law which 
required the government 
to sell to each citizen 
family a specified quan- 
tity of grain every month 
at about half the average 
market price. Naturally this measure brought him supporters, 
who elected him to- a second term. His chief aim was to 
continue the work of his brother. He had laws enacted for 
planting colonies in Italy and the provinces, to restore to these 




A Fisherman 



Seated on a stump, and holding his rod and 
fishbasket ; probably designed as an ornament 
for a fountain. After Alexander the Greeks 
began to take an artistic interest in homely 
subjects, such as this one, and the Romans 
inherited the taste. Bronze, National Museum 
at Naples. 



1 The Roman acre (jugerum) is here meant ; it was hardly two-thirds the size of 
ours. The head of the family reserved 500 acres for himself and 250 for each son, 
not exceeding two. 



Tribune and General 95 

countries the prosperity which Roman misrule had destroyed. 
The voters at Rome, however, were too narrow-minded and 
selfish to appreciate his statesmanlike views. When therefore 
he proposed to grant the Roman citizenship to the Italians, 
they defeated the measure ; and soon afterward Gaius, too, was 
murdered. Thereupon the nobles proceeded to undo his good 
work, but allowed the grain law to remain in force. The 
republic continued therefore to decline. 

An achievement of the Gracchi was to point the direction 
in which reforms should be made, and in the midst of a corrupt 
generation to furnish examples of unselfish devotion to the 
cause of human rights. Henceforth progress was made along 
the lines they had drawn. Notably the citizenship was ex- 
tended, till all the Italians became Romans (88 B.C.). 

105. Marius and the New Army. — As a rule the magistrates 
were now thoroughly incompetent in the affairs of peace and 
in the command of armies. Barbarian tribes from the North 
defeated five Roman armies in quick succession (1 13-105 B.C.), 
ravaged Gaul and Spain, and threatened to invade Italy. 
Rome seemed helpless. It happened at this time, however, 
that one of the consuls was Marius, a man of the people, who 
by military ability had made his way up to the highest office. 
He raised an army of volunteers from the poorest class. After 
carefully organizing and training these new troops, he led them 
against the enemy. In two battles he defeated the invading 
hordes with great slaughter, thus removing for many years the 
danger that threatened the civilized world from the North. 

The victory, however, was won at a great cost to the republic. 
Formerly the armies had been composed of peasant proprietors, 
who through their lands and families were attached loyally 
to the state. This class, however, had disappeared, and the 
attempt of the Gracchi to restore it had been foiled. From the 
time of Marius, therefore, the armies had to be made up of 
volunteers from the poorest class — of professional soldiers 
who found a livelihood in war and who esteemed the interest 
of their commander more highly than that of their country. 

Marius was loyal to the constitution; but he was followed 



96 



The Growth of the Roman Empire 




by generals who used their armies for gaining political suprem- 
acy. They fought against one another even in the streets of 
Rome. There were civil wars and massacres ; the government 
was at the mercy of the generals, and lacked the strength neces- 
sary for enforcing law and order. 

106. Cicero and Catiline. — The homeless poor increased 
in numbers, and the discontented became continually more 
violent. They found a champion in Cat'i-line, a member of 
an old patrician family and a man of 
great ability. Loaded down with debts 
which he could never pay, he conceived 
the desperate plan of winning the con- 
sulship for himself that he might 
abolish debts and confiscate the prop- 
erty of the rich in order to divide it 
among the poor. 

In these times of violence there lived 
one great man of peace — Cicero. He 
was born in a small town of Italy, in 
a family of moderate wealth. While he 
was still young his. parents took up 
their residence in Rome, to give their 
son a good education. After finishing 
the elementary branches (§ 112) Cicero 
studied law, listened eagerly to the 
eminent orators of the time, took lessons in Greek and Latin 
rhetoric, and finally went to Rhodes to complete his preparation 
as an orator under the greatest instructors of the age. This 
was the usual course followed by students who desired the best 
possible education, and who could afford the expense. Return- 
ing to Rome, Cicero began pleading in the law-courts and 
gradually entered upon a statesman's career. His success was 
due to conscientiousness, industry, ability, and eloquence. At 
the earliest legal age he had filled all the offices below the 
consulship in due order. 

When accordingly Catiline began his campaign for the con- 
sulship, the party of the nobility looked to Cicero to oppose 



Cicero 

The ears, breast, and half 
of the nose are modern resto- 
rations. The forehead is high 
and broad, and the expression 
is thoughtful. The short 
neck seems due to a wrong 
restoration. Marble, Vatican 
Museum. 



Cicero and Ccesar 



97 




him. Cicero was elected consul for the year 63 B.C. Catiline 
then plotted to murder the consuls and leading nobles, to seize 
the government, and to carry out his radical measures by force. 
The conspiracy, centring in Rome, extended over a great part 
of Italy. It included the raising of a rebel army in the country 
some distance from Rome. 

The vigilance and energy of Cicero, however, detected and 
overcame the plot. On this occasion he delivered in succession 
his four Orations against Catiline, which are still admired for 
their fiery eloquence. Catiline fled to his army, but was killed 
in battle, and his army was overthrown. 
Several accomplices, remaining in Rome, 
were arrested, tried and condemned by the 
senate, and put to death by Cicero. For 
the time being Cicero had saved the republic. 
We should not forget, however, that the 
republic existed for the profit of a few aris- 
tocrats and of the Roman populace, who 
received free grain from the government 1 
and sold their votes to any who wished to 
buy. Millions of men, women, and children 
throughout the empire, but little better 
than slaves, were cultivating the estates of 
the aristocrats and paying heavy rents and 
taxes, to feed the populace and to enable their lords to live in 
extravagance. Neither Cicero nor Catiline seems to have given 
the slightest thought to these toilers. 

107. Julius Caesar. — In the conflict among the generals 
for the mastery of Rome one of them was sure to win in the end 
and to make himself an absolute ruler. This was to be the 
achievement of Julius Cassar, a young patrician of brilliant 
mind and unbounded ambition. As champion of the commons 
he gradually rose through the usual offices till, in 59 B.C., he 
became consul. 

Down to this time the government had owned large tracts 

1 Gaius Gracchus had provided the Roman populace with cheap grain (§ 104) ; 
some time afterward they began to receive it free. 



Juijus C.^SAK 

On a denarius, a sil- 
ver coin worth about 
twenty cents. Portraits 
on coins are always 
genuine, whereas busts 
and statues are often 
misnamed. 



98 The Growth of the Roman Empire 

of land in Italy, which it leased out to tenants. As consul 
Caesar proposed and carried a law for the distribution of all 
this land in small freeholds among the needy. In this respect 
he was following in the footsteps of the Gracchi. It was the 
beginning of a much-needed reform. The government pos- 
sessed far larger tracts in all the provinces, which likewise should 
have been distributed ; but we do not know that Caesar thought 
of proceeding so far with his reforms. A great part of his energy 
during his consulship was given to rewarding political friends, 
fighting opponents, and laying plans for building up for him- 
self a great military power. 

108. The Conquest of Gaul. — After the expiration of his 
consulship Caesar began the conquest of Gaul, a semi-civilized 
country, approximately modern France with Belgium and Hol- 
land. In this work he showed himself a brilliant military genius. 
He had not only to conquer, but afterward to crush fierce rebel- 
lions among his subjects. In the year 50 b.c. the task was 
completed. 

Although his wars had spread desolation and death over the 
entire country, in the end his just and humane settlement of 
affairs attached the subjects loyally to him. The Gauls re- 
tained a large degree of self-government. The more warlike 
of the inhabitants took service in the Roman armies; the rest 
settled down to agriculture, mining, industry, and commerce. 
From these activities the country derived great wealth. 

Gaul was an important source of strength to Rome in sol- 
diers, in food supplies, and in taxes. It helped protect the 
Rhine frontier from the barbarous Germans. It rapidly adopted 
the language and customs of the Romans. The conquest 
began a new policy — the opening of northwestern and central 
Europe to Roman civilization. 

109. The Civil War (49-45 B.C.). — Caesar was now a mili- 
tary potentate, with a large, well-trained army devoted to him- 
self. Naturally he was hated and feared by the aristocrats, 
who placed all their hopes in Pompey, another general who had 
gained great success in war. Civil war broke out between 
Caesar and the aristocratic party. In the social history of 



Ccesar 99 

Rome this war is interesting as a conflict between seasoned 
troops, on the one hand, and raw levies of peasants, on the other. 
The great lords began by making up legions from the tenants 
on their estates in Italy; but not finding enough material 
there, they resorted to Macedonia and the Orient, where the 
system of great estates had been established long before the 
Roman conquest. Not only in Asia Minor and Syria, but in 
Africa and Spain the vast farms of the aristocrats were nearly 
denuded of peasants to swell the armies. The result might 
easily have been foreseen. Farmers, when free and when they 
have a cause to fight for, may be trained into excellent soldiers ; 
but these people were scarcely half -free ; they had no interest 
in the struggle, and were wholly lacking in military drill. They 
were mown down by Caesar's veterans. 

The war made their condition far harder. They were fewer 
in number, and they had to toil all the more to rebuild the 
houses and barns that the enemy had burned, and to repair the 
damages to the fields. Many lords were killed; and in that 
case the land went to the government or became the property 
of Caesar. Many estates were confiscated, but the tenants 
were little affected by the change of masters. The power of 
the aristocracy was broken. Most of those who survived were 
either reduced to poverty or saw their incomes so diminished 
that they could no longer play an influential part in the affairs 
of the state. 

no. The Dictatorship of Caesar (49-44 B.C.). — In the be- 
ginning of the war Caesar gained control of Italy, and thereafter 
he rapidly extended his authority till he became master of the 
empire. As dictator he enjoyed absolute power. In Rome 
he erected public buildings and he planned great improvements 
for Italy. Carefully supervising the governors of the prov- 
inces, he guarded against their extorting money from the sub- 
jects and against other forms of oppression. The worst evil 
in the Roman administration was the method of leasing the 
collection of taxes to contractors (§ 101). The men who se- 
cured these leases pillaged the subjects unmercifully. In cer- 
tain parts of the empire, as in the province of Asia and probably 



ioo • The Growth of the Roman Empire 

in Sicily, he abolished the contract system and handed over 
the collection of taxes to the cities. Had he lived, he might 
have extended this benefit to the entire empire. His good will 
toward the subjects is shown, too, in his grant of the Roman 
citizenship to many provincial cities. The advantage that 
came from the acquisition of citizenship lay in its protection 
from mistreatment at the hands of officials. Caesar's chief aim, 
however, seems to have been power and military glory. Hence 
instead of devoting his whole energy to the welfare of his empire, 
he planned the conquest of another empire : — that of Parthia. 
Great as he was, Caesar had no thought of giving the empire 
a constitution, under which the people could protect and govern 
themselves. He was satisfied to establish a paternal despotism, 
which unfits the subjects for self-government and affords no 
guarantee for the continuance of justice and good will on the 
part of the ruler or his heirs. Had Caesar's government con- 
tinued, it would hardly have remained a permanent and un- 
mixed blessing to the empire. His assassination (44 B.C.) by 
a band of republican conspirators, however, was a great mis- 
take, as it plunged the Roman world again into civil war. After 
a long, hard struggle, his nephew and heir, Oc-ta-vi-a'nus 
gained the mastery. At the point of time when Octavianus 
began to organize his government (27 b.c), we may say that 
the republic came to an end. 

Syllabus of the Growth of Rome 

I. Place of Rome in the world's history ; contrasts with Greece. 

II. Early social and political condition. 

1. Situation of Rome; extent of territory; population. 

2. Occupations : farming, grazing, few industries, and slight 

commerce. 

3. The family: strong rule of the father; lack of individuality; 

obedience and discipline. 

4. Government : assembly, senate, and magistrates ; subjection 

of the individual to authority ; lack of democratic feeling. 

III. Extension of power. 

1. Warlike population; comparison with the Greeks. 

2. Expansion over Italy ; over the Mediterranean basin. 



Studies 101 

3. Causes of expansion : Roman courage and virility ; poor mili- 
tary quality of her opponents ; their love of peace. 

IV. Organization of her empire. 

1. Local self-government. 

2. Classes of dependents : (a) allies, (6) subjects. 

3. The province : (a) composition, (b) governor, (c) taxes. 

V. Abuses of government. 

1. Oppression of subjects ; restrictions on trade ; growth of great 

estates ; of slavery. 

2. Effect on Italy and Rome; a few great capitalists; impover- 

ishment and degradation of the masses ; depopulation. 

VI. Attempts at reform. 

1. The Gracchi: their character, aims, and measures; results. 

2. Marius and the military reform ; political effect. 

3. Conspiracy of Catiline ; suppressed by Cicero ; lack of sym- 

pathy with the provincials. 

VII. End of the republic. 

1. Rise of military potentates. 

2. Julius Csesar : family and politics; consulship; conquest of 

Gaul ; civil war ; conflict of peasants with trained soldiers ; 
dictatorship, a virtual monarchy; reforms and plan of 
further conquest ; defects in his statesmanship. 

Topics for Reading 

I. The Early Roman Kingship. — Botsford, History of the Ancient 
World, ch. xix; Source-Book of Ancient History, ch. xxix; Story of 
Rome, ch. ii ; Pelham, Outlines of Roman History, 22-9 ; Abbott, Roman 
Political Institutions, ch. ii. 

II. Government during the Wars of Conquest. — Botsford, Ancient 
World, ch. xxv ; Source-Book, ch. xxv ; Story of Rome, ch. vi; Abbott, 
63-80; Pelham, 158-98. 

III. The Province. — Botsford, Ancient World, 376 f . ; Abbott, 
88-91 ; Frank, Roman Imperialism, ch. vi. 

Additional Studies 

1. From § 94 do you infer that the world has made steady progress 
from early Greek times to the present? What seems to have been the 
general course of the world's civilization? 2. What were the chief 
traits of early Roman character? 3. Compare the Romans of this 
period (1) with the Spartans, (2) with the Athenians. 4. Was the 
early republic aristocratic or democratic? Give reasons for your opin- 
ion. 5. Do we have any institution corresponding to the popular 
assembly? 6. Why should foreign communities willingly submit to 



102 The Growth of the Roman Empire 

Rome? 7. Why did not the Romans readily adapt themselves to new 
conditions? 8. What is an empire (Dictionary)? 9. Balance the 
advantages against the disadvantages of Roman rule. Which were the 
weightier? 10. Why should we say that the work of Marius was 
monarchical in tendency? 11. In what does the greatness of Cicero 
lie? 12. What evidences of Csesar's statesmanship are given by the 
text? 13. Write an essay on one of the Reading Topics. 14. Read 
Botsford, Source-Book, chs. xxxi, xxxvi, xxxvii or Story of Rome, chs. 
iii, v, vii, viii, and answer the questions at the close of these chapters. 
15. With the Syllabus before you, comment on its successive topics. 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE GROWTH OF ROMAN CIVILIZATION 
About 750 to 27 b.c. 

in. Dependence of Rome on Greece. — In an earlier para- 
graph (§ 95) mention was made of the lack of systematic edu- 
cation during the first two centuries of the republic, 509-300 B.C. 
As the Romans were not remarkably intellectual or inventive, 
they borrowed most of the elements of their civilization from 
other peoples, especially from the Greeks who lived in colonies 
near them. For example, the Roman military system was 
originally Greek, but was changed to meet the conditions of 
warfare in Italy. . In the earliest Roman law code, the Twelve 
Tables, we discover strong Greek influence ; and in the later 
development of law in the direction of fairness and equality 
for all classes Greek philosophy had an important part. In this 
field, however, the Romans ultimately advanced far beyond the 
Greeks. The alphabet itself was a gift of Greece to the Romans, 
who changed it somewhat to make it more suitable to their 
own language. In fact the Romans did not merely adopt; 
they adapted to their own use whatever they borrowed from 
others. 

112. Schools. — We are not surprised therefore to discover 
that the Roman school-system likewise came from Greece. 
Early in the third century B.C. a young Greek was brought to 
Rome as a war captive, and reduced to slavery according to the 
custom of the time. Some years afterward, when set free, he 
began to teach for a living. This man was Liv'i-us An-dro-ni'- 
cus, founder of the first Roman school. It soon came about 
that the schools were divided into two grades. First came the 

103 



io4 



The Growth of Roman Civilization 



primary school, whose master taught reading, writing, and 
arithmetic. In their writing lessons the pupils used wax tablets 
as did the Greek boys (§ 68) ; and in arithmetic they made cal- 
culations on their fingers. For the more difficult problems they 
used a reckoning board (ab'a-cus). In their earlier lessons 
they read and copied moral maxims ; and they were compelled 
to commit to memory the laws of the Twelve Tables. Although 

this exercise was extremely dry 
and repellent, their ready knowl- 
edge of the law proved valuable to 
them after they had grown up. 

Above the primary grade was the 
grammar school, in which the pupils 
studied literature. As there was in 
the beginning no Latin literature, 
Andronicus translated Homer's 
Odyssey (§§ 58, 68) into Latin for 
the use of his pupils. After a na- 
tive literature had come into exis- 
tence, the pupils studied the works 
of their own poets as well as those 
of the Greeks. 

Every Roman who wished to en- 
gage in business or in political life, 
or who desired a good education 
for its own sake, had to learn Greek, 
for it was the only means of com- 
munication among the nations of 
the Mediterranean basin and of coming into touch with the best 
poetry, history, science, and philosophy in the world. For this 
reason the study of Greek occupied a large place in the grammar 
school. 

The teachers of both grades were usually Greeks, either 
slaves or freedmen. In the wealthier families the children 
generally received instruction at home, either from a slave or 
from a paid teacher, whereas the children of the less wealthy 
attended schools. All schools were private; and the teachers 




A Youth Reading 

His chair has a curved back and 
curved legs. At the top of this 
bookcase is a writing desk with a 
tablet. His book is a roll of papy- 
rus. On the upper shelf is a pile 
of books, on the lower is a bowl, 
probably for paint, as it is too flat 
for ink. Relief on a late Roman 
sarcophagus. From Schreiber, 
'Atlas of Classical Antiquities.' 



Literature 105 

were paid for their work by the parents. As it was difficult 
to collect the fees and to enforce discipline, the life of the in- 
structor proved miserable. 1 

113. The Beginnings of Literature. — The Romans made a 
beginning of a native literature, but it was extremely crude. 
We may form an idea of it from the following chant of a group 
of priests, the " Field Brethren," whose duty was to obtain 
the blessings of the gods for the crops. In this passage the 
La 'res are gods of the fields, and Mars, usually god of war, is here 
an averter of evil from the crops and from the country people. 

" Help us, ye Lares. 
Let not blight and ruin, O Mars, haste upon the multitude. 
Be satiate, fierce Mars ; leap the threshold, stay the scourge. 
Summon ye in turn all the gods of sowing. 
Help us, O Mars. 
Huzza ! Huzza ! Huzza ! " 

This poem shows no evidence of artistic taste. Andronicus, 
however, began to translate Greek plays into Latin, and his 
example was soon followed by natives. The most famous of 
these translators was Plautus (254-184 B.C.), many of whose 
comedies may still be read. In making the translations he 
introduced touches of Roman life and character. His plays, 
while entertaining us by their light humor, present an inter- 
esting picture of Greek and Roman life of the period in which 
they were written. 

In addition to comedies and tragedies, adapted from the 
Greek, the Romans of this time began to write epic poetry, 
satire, history, and orations. Of these works we have mere 
fragments. 

114. The Ciceronian Age of Literature (70-27 B.C.). — 
During the lifetime of Cicero Latin literature reached so high a 
degree of perfection that it has furnished models for writers 
from that time to the present day. The fact that all the Ital- 
ians had now become Romans in civil rights, in customs, and 
in ideas, together with the stirring political and military events, 

1 For a long time boys only were sent to school. For the education of girls, see 
§130. 



106 The Growth of Roman Civilization 

furnished a powerful stimulus to thought and literary produc- 
tion. At the same time the study of Greek culture through 
many generations had at length brought into being a class of 
highly educated Romans with refined tastes and intellectual 
interests. In the study of Latin to-day the first book read is 
Caesar's Commentaries on the Gallic War. This work tells the 
story of his campaigns in simple and direct yet elegant lan- 
guage. One who wishes to cultivate a narrative style can find 
no better model. After reading Cassar the present high-school 
pupil advances to the Orations of Cicero. Some of these speeches 
are pleadings before the courts ; others are addressed to the 
senate or to the people on the questions of the time. One who 
to-day is preparing himself for public speaking will find useful 
lessons in the style and spirit of these orations. The most 
valuable contribution of Cicero to the world's progress, how- 
ever, was his presentation of Greek ideas on moral, religious, 
and philosophic subjects in the Latin language. Through him 
therefore these ideas were spread abroad over all western Europe. 
Viewed in this light, Cicero has done more for the education 
of the world than any other individual. Among his contem- 
poraries were poets and prose writers, for whom there is no 
space in this volume. 

115. The Cure of Diseases. — For three centuries after 
the founding of the republic the Romans had no physicians. 
For the cure of diseases and the healing of fractured bones 
they usually resorted to incantations. Cato, one of the wise 
old Romans, gives the following recipe for mending a fractured 
hip. " It will become sound by this spell : take a green reed, 
three or four feet long, split it down the middle, and let two 
men hold it to the hipbones. Then begin singing in different 
measures — 

" Hip, hip, hurrah ! 
Though your broken sore, I trow, 
You will come together now. 
Hip, hip, hurrah ! 

Bones are crushed and far apart — 
Come together by our art." 



Religion 107 

In time they learned that the Greeks had a god, ^Es-cu-la'pi-us, 
whose business it was to heal the sick. They went accordingly 
by ship and brought home a snake which always attended this 
god, and built for it and its master a temple at Rome. Sick 
people were taken to the temple in the belief that while they 
were sleeping there, the god cured them of their illness. 

Still later a physician came from Greece (219 B.C.). He was 
welcomed and granted the citizenship; and the senate pro- 
vided at public cost a hospital for his patients. But in the 
practice of his profession he cut and cauterized so severely that 
the people declared him a butcher and would have nothing 
more to do with him. After his time many generations passed 
before the Romans preferred a physician to a doctor-god or an 
incantation. 

116. The Native Religion. — The early Romans, like other 
early peoples, believed in a multitude of spirits. Each lived 
in an object, as a man, tree, stream, sky, sun, or moon. Those 
who were thought of as especially powerful, and whose names 
were known, were considered gods. Every man had a spirit 
termed his Genius ; every woman had her Juno. The family, 
too, had its gods — the pe-na'tes, who guarded the supply of 
food ; Vesta who lived in the hearth ; Janus, guardian of the 
door, and many others. There were the Ma'nes, too, gods of 
the dead, in the earth beneath. In like manner the flocks and 
crops had their deities who averted evil and gave increase. 
Originally these spirits had no independent being, but were 
the shadowy doubles of the objects to which they belonged. 
Many were thought of as evildoers, whom the people had to 
win by gifts and ceremonies. Before beginning any important 
enterprise a Roman in behalf of himself, or a magistrate for the 
state, in solemn form promised the deity a gift on condition 
of his granting success. If the god fulfilled his part of the con- 
tract, the maker of the vow was bound to his promise ; other- 
wise he was released from it. 

117. The Introduction of Greek Religion. — As early as the 
sixth century B.C., when Greek merchants were bringing their 
wares to Rome to barter for native products, the Romans began 



io8 



The Growth of Roman Civilization 



to learn something about these strangers' gods, whom they 
found very attractive. They began immediately therefore to 
introduce Greek deities into their community and to build 
temples for them. Sometimes they identified the foreign god 
with one of their own. In this case they usually gave it the 




Temple to Jupiter, Juno and Minerva 

Capitoline Hill, Rome. It includes three principal rooms, cells : the middle room 
is occupied by Jupiter, the right by Minerva, the left by Juno. Jupiter is the su- 
preme deity ; Juno, his wife, is Queen ; and Minerva is goddess of war, skill and 
wisdom. Restoration from archaeological data. Augustus repaired and greatly 
enriched this temple. 



Roman name. For example, when they introduced De-me'ter, 
the Greek goddess of agriculture, they identified her with 
Ce'res, their spirit of grain. In all such cases they gave their 
deity the attributes of the Greek god. A-pol'lo, on the other 
hand, was introduced under his own name. At the same time 
the Romans were adopting the Greek ideas of their gods. They 
came to regard them as possessing the form and character of 
men and women, and in their festivals they began to honor 
them in the Greek way, with horse and chariot races, with music 



Temples and Useful Works ' 109 

and athletic competitions. In this manner the Romans gained 
many of the refinements of Greek life. Their contact with 
foreigners, however, was not always advantageous to them- 
selves ; from the Etruscans, who lived north of the Tiber, they 
introduced as a funeral accompaniment gladiatorial fights, 
which were brutal and demoralizing. 

Meanwhile the Romans were eagerly imbibing Greek philos- 
ophy, and with it scepticism. The result was that while the 
ignorant continued to believe in the gods, most educated men 
looked upon religion as a fiction, which the intelligent could 
despise, but which the state found useful in controlling the 
masses. The loss of faith was accompanied by a decline of 
morals. The vices of the educated unfitted them for govern- 
mental duty, and this is one reason why the republic came to an 
end. 

118. Public Works. —The construction of aqueducts they 
learned from the Greeks. About 300 B.C. the statesman Ap'- 
pius Clau'di-us built the first great road for his city and the 
first aqueduct, named after him respectively the Appian Way 
and the Appian Aqueduct. After his time, as the population of 
the city increased, other aqueducts were built, so that Rome 
was abundantly supplied with fresh water. 

A form of building much used at Rome was the ba-sil'i-ca. 
In it courts were held, and merchants and bankers transacted 
business. The style of building was borrowed from Greece 
in the second century B.C. ; but the architect at Rome wrought 
in the spirit of her people. He left the exterior plain and unat- 
tractive, to devote his whole attention to the interior. It was 
essentially a vast hall with aisles separated from nave, some- 
times by arched piers but oftener by colonnades. In mediaeval 
and modern times the basilica has survived, with modifications, 
as a form of the Christian church, especially common in Italy 
(§ 263). 

119. Summary of the Republic. — In the age when Athens 
under Pericles was at the height of her glory, Rome was an 
insignificant little city-state, whose inhabitants were for the 
most part simple peasants. At the time we have now reached 



no The Growth of Roman Civilization 

(27 B.C.), it was the capital of an empire which included the 
whole of the Mediterranean basin. The city was the most 
populous in the world. The wealthy families erected for them- 
selves sumptuous dwellings, which they adorned with the stat- 
ues and paintings they had brought as plunder from Greece. 
There were, too, a few large temples and buildings for govern- 
mental and business purposes. Slowly the city was taking on 




The Basilica Julia 

Interior. Built by Julius Caesar ; rebuilt by Augustus ; for law-courts, business, 
and shelter for the public. Restoration from archaeological data. 

the form of a great and wealthy capital. Far more people 
were educated now than formerly; and there was already a 
beginning of a great literature worthy of study even to the 
present day. 

On the dark side of the picture we should place the enormous 
increase in the number of slaves, the disappearance of the fami- 
lies of moderate means, leaving a vast gulf between the very 
rich and the very poor, the diminishing population, moral 
degeneracy, desolating civil wars among the great military 



Studies in 

chieftains, massacres and seditions, which cut off the most 
talented men in the service of the state and planted fear and 
hatred deep in the hearts of all classes. Yet amid the chaos of 
republican government and society a universal longing for 
peace, giving hope of better things, summoned the strong, 
wise statesman to the creation of a settled, efficient govern- 
ment and of a more healthful social spirit. 

Topics for Reading 

I. Early Religion. — Botsford, Ancient World, 332-4; Source-Book, 
338-42; Story of Rome, 33, 40-4; Carter, Religion of Numa, 1-61 ; 
Religious Life of Ancient Rome, chs. i, ii; Fowler, Religious Experience 
of the Roman People, especially lects. iv-vii. 

II. Cicero as an Author. — Mackail, Latin Literature, 62-77 ; Duff, 
Literary History of Rome, 349-397. 

III. Csesar as a Historian. — Mackail, 78-82 ; Duff, 398-414. 

Review 

1. What are the origins of the various elements of Roman civiliza- 
tion? 2. How did the first Roman school originate? What were the 
grades, and what was taught in each? Who were the teachers? 3. De- 
scribe the native elements of Roman literature. What elements did 
the Romans borrow from Greece ? 4. What did Caesar and Cicero re- 
spectively write, and for what are their several works noted? What 
is the place of Cicero in the history of civilization? 5. How did the 
Romans originally try to cure diseases ? Who was ^Esculapius ? What 
were their experiences with the first physician who came from Greece? 

6. Describe their primitive religion; their bargaining with the deity. 

7. What deities and religious ideas did they borrow from Greece? 
From what source did the Romans derive their philosophy, and what was 
its effect on their morals? 8. Name and describe their chief public 
works of this period. 

Additional Studies 

1. Why were the Romans later than the Greeks in becoming civilized ? 
2. Compare the schools of Rome with those of Greece (§ 67). 3. Why 
did so many Romans learn the Greek language? 4. Compare the na- 
tive Roman religion with that of Egypt; with that of Greece. 5. Did 
the introduction of Greek religious ideas make the Roman religion 
better or worse? Give reasons for your opinion. 6. In what respects, 
if in any, were the Romans superior to the Greeks? 7. Read Botsford, 
Source-Book, chs. xxix, xxxii, xxxv and take notes on " character and 
civilization." 8. Write a syllabus of this chapter like the one given 
at the close of the last chapter. 



CHAPTER IX 



THE PRINCIPATE AND THE MONARCHY 
27 B.C. to 337 A.D. 

I. Political Growth 

120. The Prince. — In a long civil war (43-31 B.C.) Octa- 
vianus overcame all his enemies, as stated above (§ no), and 
became master of the empire. It was in his power to say what 
should be its government. Julius Caesar 
had made himself an absolute ruler, and 
had appointed to magistracies his mili- 
tary officers and other favorites. These 
men, far from serving him faithfully, 
had enriched themselves by dishonesty 
and oppression, and had murdered their 
patron. Octavianus was too prudent to 
repeat the mistake. He was convinced 
that the aristocracy alone could furnish 
the men competent to fill the senate and 
the higher offices and command the 
legions. He believed, too, that he could 
hold the empire together in no other 
way than by reviving the spirit and the 
ambition of the Italian nation. This 
was to be the ruling class ; the Italians 
alone were to fill the legions and to hold the offices. The aris- 
tocracy and the nation, however, were opposed to monarchy. 

In the year 27 B.C. accordingly the republic was restored but 
with important modifications. Octavianus was to retain com- 




OCTAVIANUS 

At about sixteen years, 
ican Museum. 



Vat- 



The Prince 113 

mand of the armies and to hold in addition some of the offices 
at Rome. He was to be the " first citizen " prince (Latin 
prin-ceps). Thus he remained through life the chief magis- 
trate. The government may now be termed a principate; it 
was a state of transition from republic to monarchy. 

121. The Prince becomes a Monarch. — All the old re- 
publican offices continued, but they were overshadowed by the 
prince. The senate still had an important place in the ad- 
ministration; and when Augustus died in 14 a.d., it sanctioned 
the elevation of his adopted son Tiberius to the principate. 
Sometimes the new prince was a relative of his predecessor, 
sometimes from a new family. Often he was recommended 
by the populace or the soldiers, but his powers he received 
from the senate. Though in a condition to check the prince, 
its members strove among themselves for precedence in flatter- 
ing him and in voting him new authority. Under these cir- 
cumstances the prince gradually gained power at the expense 
of the senate, till in the course of a century and a half (27 B.C. 
to about 125 a.d.) he became a real monarch, still somewhat 
limited by the senate. In another century and a half (125- 
284 a.d.) he was as absolute as any Oriental king. Meantime 
the title im-pe-ra'tor, at first meaning " general," supplanted 
that of prince and came to signify emperor. The latter word 
is only an English derivative from the former. 

122. The Worship of the Prince. — The growth of the 
prince's power was aided by religion. The Romans adopted 
from the Greeks the idea that a great man might be a god, 
who should be worshipped with divine honors. They treated 
the prince in this way. The senate decreed Octavianus the 
title Augustus, the " consecrated." In this way his person 
was made sacred, like a temple or the image of a deity. It is 
customary to substitute this title for the name Octavianus, but 
we must keep in mind the fact that all his successors bore the 
same title. 

The building of temples for the worship of the prince began 
in Asia Minor, and from there extended over the empire. In 
time this worship became a bond which united the Roman 



H4 



The Principate and the Monarchy 



world. Refusal to offer incense to his Genius, or as we may 
say, to his Guardian Spirit, was punishable with death. It is 
not strange that people who believed in many deities should 
regard as their chief god the man whose will was law through- 
out the civilized world, and who as a rule humanely and ably 
provided for his people peace, justice, 
and in general the conditions necessary 
to prosperity and happiness. The wor- 
ship of the prince not only exalted him 
above the senate and the ordinary 
magistrates of Rome, but formed a 
means of knitting the empire closely 
together under his rule. 

123. The Prince as an Administra- 
tor ; the Bureaucracy. — Another rea- 
son for the growth of the prince's 
authority was the disposition of the 
people to call upon him to right all 
their wrongs and to make every needed 
improvement, in some such way as the 
people of the United States are more 
and more inclined to depend on the 
The Genius of Augustus President. Readily accepting such 
A man beyond middle age, invitations either through interest in 
with toga over his head and a the public welfare or through love of 
popularity, the prince generally accom- 
plished the desired improvement to the 
satisfaction of all. In this way he 
continually acquired new duties and 
new power. No magistrate, however 
able, can be a monarch without a large 
number of trained, loyal helpers. Augustus found no one ac- 
quainted with the duties of administration outside the senate. 
Gradually, however, there grew up a large class of men who 
were loyal to the prince and experienced in his service. Mean- 
while the various duties of the prince were converted into offices, 
and new duties were constantly undertaken. In this way 




shallow bowl in his right hand 
He is about to offer a sacrifice. 
In his left hand is a cornucopia, 
signifying abundance. As the 
guardian spirit of Augustus he 
brings prosperity to the em- 
pire. Marble statue, Vatican 
Museum. 



Means of Centralization 115 

developed a complex system of offices described as a bureau- 
cracy. It was through this bureaucracy that the prince finally 
became an absolute monarch. 

Another means of centralization was the roads. The republic 
began the building of highways through Italy and the provinces ; 
and this work was carried on by the prince, till like a great net, 
centring at Rome, they ran through every town in the vast 
empire. The public works of the Romans were built to last 
for ages. The roads were straight, broad, and founded on 
hard rock beds. Hills were cut through, rivers spanned by 
magnificent stone bridges, and valleys by causeways of the 
same material. Along these roads swift messengers carried 
the correspondence between the prince and his officials ; along 
them marched the armies to protect the frontier or to put down 
bandits or rebels. The empire was held together only by the 
ease of communication between its centre and its remotest 
parts. At the same time the highways were lines of traffic. 

124. Colonies. — Colonies were a further aid to centraliza- 
tion. In her conquest of Italy Rome had planted in each 
district, when acquired, colonies of her own citizens or of the 
closely related Latins. Gaius Gracchus began in the same 
way to colonize the provinces. Julius Caesar, Augustus, and 
their successors founded many colonies of Latin-speaking 
people in the provinces, especially in those of the West. Two 
great advantages came from this policy. In the first place 
such a colony, loyal to the mother city, helped secure the obedi- 
ence of the surrounding natives; secondly, it was a centre 
from which the language, customs, and laws of the Romans 
extended to the natives. The aim was to Romanize Africa, 
Spain, Gaul, Britain, and in general the West, where as a rule 
the people were comparatively uncivilized at the time of their 
conquest. 1 To a great degree the policy was successful. After 
the natives had come to be like the Romans in language and in 
life, they were given the citizenship, and proved as loyal to Rome 

1 The northern coast of Africa west of Egypt was occupied by Phoenicians, whose 
civilization was older than that of Rome. There were a few Greek and Phoenician 
colonies in Gaul and Spain. 



1 1 6 The Principate and the Monarchy 

as the colonists, from whom they could no longer be distin- 
guished. 

125. The Latin West and the Grecian East. — The attitude 
of Rome toward the part of the empire east of the Adriatic sea 
was different. In this part Greek civilization prevailed as 
the result of Alexander's conquests (§ 89). Recognizing the 
superiority of Greek culture, Rome made no attempt to dis- 
place it by her own. It was her aim rather to encourage its 
further growth in the Orient. When accordingly she planted 
colonies in the East, the settlers were mainly Greek and the 
colonies received Greek names. 1 The result was that in time 
the empire consisted of a Roman half in the West and a Greek 
half in the East. When under Di-o-cle'ti-an (284-305) there 
came to be two emperors, one ruled the East and the other 
the West. Rome remained the capital of the West ; and Con- 
stantinople, named after the emperor Con'-stan-tine (306-337), 
became the capital of the East. There was still but one em- 
pire though divided for administrative purposes. 

126. Growth of Cities. — In the countries which Rome found 
already highly civilized were many large cities. In the other 
parts, as in western Europe and along the Danube, most people 
lived in the country, so that there were few towns. In all 
these places Rome encouraged the growth of cities, partly be- 
cause the natives could learn in them to speak and live like 
the Romans far more speedily than when scattered through the 
country, and partly because Rome knew better how to govern 
city-states than country-states. As a result of this policy most 
of the states of the empire in the West came to be cities, just 
as they already were in the East. These city-states were like 
those of Greece or like Rome before she began to extend her 
power (§§ 43, 95). 

127. City Government. — The population of a city consisted 
of slaves and freemen. The latter were either citizens or 
non-citizens. Citizenship was not acquired by residence but 
was occasionally bestowed as a gift. All the citizens had a 

1 This statement does not hold for the provinces north of Greece and Macedonia. 
There were a few Roman colonies farther east as at Berytus (Beirut), Syria. 



The Cities 117 

right to attend the assembly and vote in the election of magis- 
trates and in the making of laws. But those only who possessed 
a certain amount of property fixed by law, and who had an 
honorable character and occupation, were eligible to offices. 
The chief magistrates were the du-o'vir-i (" board of two "), 
patterned after the Roman consuls. At the expiration of their 
year of office all the important magistrates, including the 
duoviri, became life members of the cu'ri-a — city council — 
if they did not already belong to it. Every fifth year the 
duoviri took a census and made an assessment of their com- 
munity. As there were not enough retired magistrates to fill 
the curia to its normal number, usually a hundred, the duoviri 
supplied the deficiency by enrolling among the members — 
cu-ri-a'les — the more wealthy and distinguished private 
citizens of the community and sometimes even rich or cele- 
brated strangers. In the first century a.d. we know that there 
was still spirited rivalry for office. On the walls of the houses 
of Pom-pei'i (§ 132) may be found written in large letters 
such expressions as, "The barbers wish to have Tre'bi-us as 
aedile ; " x and " The fruit-sellers unanimously support Hol- 
co'ni-us Pris'cus for duovir." 

128. Public Spirit. — The magistrate received no salary; 
in fact on entering office or on becoming a curialis he had to 
pay a fee fixed by law. Public life gave him little opportunity 
for illegal gains. On the contrary the people expected him, 
in addition to the required payment, to expend his own money 
in entertaining them with feasts and shows and in building or 
repairing public works. It was partly by gifts from wealthy 
citizens that most cities acquired enough property to pay from 
the revenue all its necessary expenses, without resort to taxa- 
tion. Many a city received from the same source an endow- 
ment for producing the annual tribute due to Rome. Such 
communities levied no taxes whatever. In general the ancient 
state possessed a large capital either in money or in rentable 

1 The aediles were chiefs of police, supervisors of the markets, games, etc. Below 
them were the quaestors, who were treasurers. There were quaestors and aediles at 
Rome, whence the cities of the empire derived these and other institutions. 



n8 Social Life 

property the income from which went far toward defraying 
expenses, whereas a modern state or municipality as a rule has 
no productive wealth but is burdened with heavy debts, the 
interest on which, in addition to other enormous expenses, 
must be paid by taxes on the citizens. Only by taking account 
of this great contrast can we appreciate the prosperity of the 
cities of the empire and the generous patriotism of the wealthy 
people. The motive was often unselfish; but sometimes it 
was the mere desire of popularity. In any case the city received 
the benefit; and the result was a prosperity throughout the 
empire such as the world had not seen before. We read of it 
in the books written at the time and we discover proofs of it 
in the extant ruins of excellent roads, bridges, aqueducts, 
theatres, temples, fortifications, and other public works in every 
part of the Mediterranean country then included in the empire. 

II. Social Life 

129. Romans and Greeks Compared. — In our study of the 
republic we noticed that in earliest times the Romans were 
barbarians, and that they derived the greater part of their 
civilization from Greece. It was inevitable therefore that as 
they progressed, their private and social life came to resemble 
closely that of the Greeks. 1 Through conquests, however, 
and through the government of the empire many Romans 
acquired enormous fortunes. They were able therefore to 
make a lavish display; but in spite of their wealth and their 
political power they remained inferior to the Greeks in intelli- 
gence and refinement. For example, they enjoyed writing for 
publication, and the number of dramas, poems, histories, and 
philosophic works produced by them was stupendous; but 
only a few had the genius to produce literature comparable 
with the Greek. The same was true of their taste for music, 
sculpture, and the remaining arts. They were not producers 
of art or of ideas; their achievement in the history of culture 

1 From the beginning the Roman dress resembled the Greek, and hence is not 
described in this chapter. 



Girls and Women 119 

was to spread the civilization of Greece, in a modified form, 
over western Europe. 

130. Education of Girls. — The education of boys was 
nearly like that of .the Greeks, and has already been described 
(§ 112). The daughter of poor parents attended the primary 
school with her brothers and studied the same subjects. A 
Roman poet asks : " Is it a poet's ambition to be read out by 
a hoarse and pompous schoolmaster to an unsympathetic crowd 
of boys and girls? " Here is one of many indications that boys 
and girls studied literature together. The daughters of the 
wealthy, however, were instructed at home. In addition to 
the common branches they learned singing, lyre-playing, and 
dancing. A proud father boasts that by these charms his 
daughter will soon win an excellent husband. Often girls and 
boys were called upon to sing in the same choruses at public 
religious festivals. 

131. Marriage; the Position of Women. — Under a law 
of Augustus early marriage was required. A man should 
marry before he was twenty-five, a girl from thirteen to sixteen. 
As the bride was considered too young to have wisdom in such 
matters, her father or guardian made the arrangements for her ; 
and she could refuse only in case her proposed husband had a 
notoriously bad character. The bride brought with her a 
dowry, which was restored to her in case of a separation through 
the husband's fault. The rest of her property, if she had any, 
remained under her own control. Before marriage her conduct 
was strictly supervised; afterward she was mistress of the 
household and enjoyed complete social freedom. 

Many women kept themselves well informed on the events 
of the day, and were thoroughly acquainted with politics. A 
certain Roman expresses his gratitude to his aunt for having 
lielped him in the duties of his magistracy. Others were so 
influential that they could secure offices for their relatives and 
friends. Others interested themselves in literature and philos- 
ophy. They either acted as critics and patrons of men, or they 
themselves composed memoirs, poems, and other works. These 
pursuits led them far from the old Roman ideal, that the matron 



120 



Social Life 



should devote her days to spinning and to the supervision of the 
household. In some families this ancient ideal was still cher- 
ished; and even Augustus wore homespun, woven and stitched 
by his wife and daughter. In the upper classes such examples 
were rare. Most women in this circle devoted themselves to 
the luxuries and the dissipations common in that age. They 
attended the gladiatorial, fights, where men butchered one 




Street in Pompeii 



Notice the absence of windows, the sidewalks and the stones for crossing. Streets 
and roads are paved with flat blocks of hard black stone (silex, lava). Present ap- 
pearance. From a photograph. 

another for the enjoyment of the spectators. Women who 
witnessed these games and indulged in all manner of vice were 
no less brutalized and debased than the men of the same circle. 
132. The Streets. — In all ancient cities, hemmed in as they 
were by walls, the space was cramped. There were in Rome 
a few public squares and a few broad streets in the wealthier 
quarters, but everywhere else was a congestion of the masses 



Streets 



121 



into the smallest possible area. The streets were extremely 
narrow, and a part of the width was occupied by wares exhibited 
for sale in front of the shops. They were paved with large flat 
stones of lava, and at intervals stone blocks were placed, on 
which pedestrians might cross in wet weather. As teaming 
was forbidden at Rome during the day, wagons loaded with 
food, building material, and merchandise rattled all night long 
over the pavement ; and this activity, together with other 




The Claudian Aqueduct 

Finished by Claudius the Prince (Princeps). Bringing fresh vater from the moun- 
tains 43 miles distant, it crosses the low plain (Campagna) near Rome on arches 
above 80 feet in height. Best preserved section. From a photograph. 

multitudinous noises, made sleep difficult. Fresh water 
abounded from the many aqueducts ; and hundreds of tanks 
and beautiful fountains were distributed along the streets. 

The appearance of a smaller city is made clear by the ruins 
of Pompeii. It was buried by an eruption of Vesuvius in 79 
a.d. and has been unearthed in recent years. Nearly all the 
woodwork was burned ; but the streets and the house walls to 
a varying height have been well preserved. See the illustra- 
tion of one of these streets. 



122 



Social Life 



133. Houses. — In Rome the middle and poorer classes were 
packed closely together in tenements occupying a whole block 
and rising to a height of four or five stories. The capacity was 
not so great as that of many a building to-day ; but the rooms 
were much smaller and there were far more occupants to a 
given space. 

Only the wealthy families could afford individual dwellings. 
In these buildings there was great diversity of plan correspond- 
ing to the requirements of the space and the taste of the owner. 
The outside was plain with no ornamentation except at the 

doorway. Monot- 
onous walls, with 
no windows in the 
first story, faced 
the street. Often 
the front was lined 
with shops, which 
the owner leased 
out with a view to 
increasing his in- 
come. 

The visitor en- 
tered the vestibule, 
an outer hall lead- 
ing to the door. 
This space was 
often adorned with 
portrait statues and other memorials of the family. As the visi- 
tor approached, the slave porter, roused from his nap in the little 
lodge, opened the door. The guest entered the a'tri-um (court), 
where he found the master of the house ready to welcome him. 
The roof of this room slanted on all .sides, to an opening in the 
centre, which admitted the light, and through which the rain 
poured into a square basin in the floor. The entire atrium was 
richly decorated with costly marble pillars, statues, paintings, 
and purple hangings. On the floor were mosaics, elaborately 
wrought in imitation of an Oriental carpet. 




The Peristyle 

In a house at Pompeii, with some of its furniture. 
Present appearance. From a photograph. 



Houses 



123 



Adjoining the atrium, and in various quarters of the house, 
were dining rooms, each containing at least one table. Three 
sides of the table were occupied by couches on which the luxu- 
rious Romans reclined in Greek style while eating their sumpt- 
uous repasts. A board on the fourth side held the costly vases 
and curiosities of the proprietor ; and the whole room was 
lavishly adorned with works of art. 

The per'i-style was an inner court planted with trees and 
flowers and surrounded by a colonnade. Round this court 
were the sleeping rooms and other private apartments of the 
women, whereas those of the men were grouped about the 
atrium. There were also a 
kitchen, bathrooms, and some- 
times a library. All these 
rooms received their light and 
air from the two courts, in 
which the members of the fam- 
ily passed the greater part of 
their time. It is noteworthy 
that the plan of the house se- 
cluded family life from the 
public far more completely 
than is possible among us. 

There was usually a second 
story so built as to interfere as little as possible with the light, 
air, and comfort of the lower rooms. Sometimes a large dining- 
room was located here. Other rooms were probably used for 
storage and others for slaves. A third story in a dwelling was 
rare. 

For supplying the tenements and the private houses with 
water, mains were laid along the streets under the pavement in 
about the same way as at present, and branches led off to the 
several buildings. Sometimes a tank was placed near the top 
of the house, from which pipes led to the various rooms where 1 
water was needed. The pipes were of bronze or lead and varied 
in size according to requirements. The bathrooms, the kitchen, 
and the court fountains especially needed a supply. The 




A Roman Bath 

Bath on our right, sweating room on 
our left; heating apparatus below. 
Restoration. 



124 Social Life 

refuse water of the Pompeian houses was drained partly into 
cesspools and partly into small sewers that have been discovered 
under the pavement of the streets. 

In the warm climate of Italy there is less need of heating 
than in America or England. Many satisfied themselves in 
the coldest weather with braziers. In the more luxurious 
houses a furnace in the basement sent hot air through flues 
passing immediately beneath the floors and through the walls 
which enclosed the living rooms and bathrooms. Convenient 
openings admitted this heat into the rooms. 

134. Occupations of the Wealthy. — The Romans were keen 
business men. So strict were they in guarding property rights 
that they developed a complex system of law relating to in- 
heritance, contracts, and other property relations. A great 
part of their Civil Law consists of such regulations. In contrast 
with this all-pervading desire of gain was the social prejudice 
against nearly every money-making occupation. A senator 
might honorably pursue agriculture for profit; he might be 
forgiven for engaging in wholesale commerce, provided he 
retired from it in good season. Lending money on interest 
was disreputable; yet in fact the higher class depended for 
their income chiefly on this kind of business, leaving it however 
to their freedmen to carry on. Retail trade and manual labor 
of all kinds were held in contempt. Little better were the pro- 
fessions, such as medicine, architecture, and teaching. These 
false ideas were a positive blemish on Roman life. 

This contempt of the senatorial class for most occupations 
arose from a consciousness that they had a higher calling in the 
business of government. Under the principate they continued 
to serve as military officers, as governors of provinces, and on 
the many administrative boards required for the empire. At 
the same time many of them had large landed estates through- 
out the empire, from which they derived incomes sufficient to 
enable them to live in luxury. 

Below the senators were a class of wealthy people, called 
knights (Latin eq'ui-tes) because under the early republic they 
had formed the cavalry. They included most of the great 



Business 125 

business men. They formed corporations for leasing the collec- 
tion of taxes; and individually they served the prince as his 
financial agents in the management of his many estates and in 
the supervision of his interests throughout the empire. They 
were the men who filled the offices which he created, and which 
developed into the bureaucracy (§ 123). In addition to these 
public services they had their own occupations, involving the 
investment of money in many kinds of business. 

135. Banking. — A banking system, devised by the Greeks, 
found its way to Rome in the early republic. A large part of 
the banker's business consisted in the exchange of money ; for 
many states of the empire long retained their separate coinage. 
Like the modern banker, he received money on deposit, on which 
he paid interest, and which he lent out at a profit. He collected 
debts, and issued bills of exchange for the convenience of mer- 
chants and travellers. These bills were written orders on the 
banks of other cities for the payment of specified sums. A 
system of this kind implied a high degree of credit ; it was under 
the supervision of the government, which severely punished any 
case of proved dishonesty. 

136. Commerce and Manufacturing. — Light duties, for 
revenue only, were imposed on goods in transport across the 
borders. This freedom of trade did much to offset the dangers 
to the small merchant ships, propelled by oar and wind, devoid 
of compass and ill prepared to battle with storms. Usually the 
merchant travelled with his ship, or fleet, to attend personally 
to his business. The risks were great, but the profits greater. 
From Britain and the Baltic coasts came tin and amber.; from 
the Black Sea, salt fish, tow, ebony, and incense ; from Bithynia, 
aromatic herbs ; saffron and raisin wine from Crete and Cilicia ; 
purple dyes from Tyre ; paper and linen from Egypt and Syria ; 
spices and gums from Arabia and its neighborhood. Silks, 
precious stones, rare dyes, and other far-eastern products came 
from India and China. In brief, trade routes covered the 
Mediterranean and its tributary seas in a net-work and lined 
the coasts from China to Britain. 

The vast trade of the empire, of which we have taken but 



126 Social Life 

a glimpse above, implies great activity in producing the neces- 
sities and the luxuries of life. From bakers and butchers up 
to goldsmiths, sculptors, and painters, we find an endless array 
of skilled trades minutely specialized. For their mutual interests 
and even more for social intercourse, men of the same trades 
banded themselves together in guilds. An association of the 
kind had its officers, protecting deity, and festivals. It ex- 
pressed its will by passing resolutions, many of which have 
been preserved in inscriptions on stone. Similar societies were 
formed to care for the burial of its members, and incidentally 
for feasts and entertainments, 

137. Travel. — At that time there were no ships exclusively 
for passengers, and the sailings of merchantmen were irregular. 
The traveller by sea had therefore to watch his chance for a 
ship, and make his bargain. Journeying by land was more 
certain. The excellent roads have been mentioned. In the 
absence of railways and steamboats travel was much slower 
then than it is now ; yet a general or a swift messenger might, 
in a light chariot and by frequent dianges of horses, make a 
hundred miles or more in twenty-four hours. 

A noble journeyed in great state. Nero, the prince, had a 
thousand carriages. His mules were shod with silver; their 
drivers wore scarlet liveries ; and the outriders were even more 
splendidly arrayed. The wealthy magnate took with him his 
household of slaves and all the apparatus for cooking, eating, 
and sleeping, including the delicacies as well as the necessities of 
life ; for there were no luxurious hotels like those of the modern 
world. Often travellers lodged with friends, whereas public 
officials could demand free entertainment from the cities through 
which they passed. In the larger cities tolerable inns could 
be found ; elsewhere they were wretched. 

In the neighborhood of military camps travel was safe ; only 
in out-of-the-way places, and especially in the mountains, in- 
dividuals and small parties were exposed to attacks from bandits. 
Sometimes a robber band grew so formidable as to terrorize a 
whole province ; yet, in general, life and property in Italy and 
the empire were probably as secure as in the same countries 



Travel, Professions 127 

during the past century. Under these favorable conditions 
people moved about with great freedom, soldiers passing to or 
from their legions, officers hurrying to their commands, mes- 
sengers of the government carrying despatches, Christian mis- 
sionaries spreading the Gospel, families seeking to better their 
fortunes by change of residence, throngs of slaves brought in 
from the frontier, and traders conveying their merchandise in 
wagons to and from the great commercial ports. The world 
was full of such movements, which mingled the natives of the 
empire, and tended gradually to make them one in language, 
ideas, and sympathy. 

138. The Professions. — Among a people whose chief task was 
the government of an empire, and who had large sums of money 
to invest in business or to lend at interest, it was natural that 
the chief profession should be law. To obtain the necessary 
instruction in this subject a young man had to attach himself 
to a jurist whom he admired, and who was willing in a spirit of 
friendship to take him as a pupil. From the practice of law 
it was easy to step into office. A man who entered upon a 
political career generally continued to plead cases in court. 
Gifts from clients were a great source of wealth. Pliny the 
Younger, for example, was a senator, a practical lawyer, and a 
literary man. His Letters are gracefully composed, and give us 
much information as to the social and intellectual life of his 
age (about 100 a.d.). 

In like manner, architects, artists, and physicians had to 
learn their profession through apprenticeship. The intense 
building activity of the principate called for a great number of 
proficient architects, painters, and sculptors. These classes 
were mainly Greek. 

Although in early time the Romans had preferred incanta- 
tions to doctors *(§ 115), they gradually overcame this prejudice. 
Most physicians were slaves and freedmen, supplied by Greece 
and the Orient. Every army was attended by a corps of doctors 
and in time every town had its official physicians, who drew 
salaries from the public treasury, treated the poor free of charge, 
and made whatever profit they could from those who were able 



128 



Social Life 



to pay. The profession was as highly specialized as at present : 
we hear of trained nurses, oculists, aurists, dentists, and experts 
in various branches of surgery. Naturally there was much 
quackery, but the state punished severely for malpractice ; and 
the "Oath of Hippocrates," 1 still taken by the graduates of our 
medical colleges, proves that the ancient ideal of the profession 
was as pure and noble as it is to-day. 

139. Slaves. — While the Romans were engaged in conquer- 
ing the civilized world, they took a vast number of captives, 

the most of whom they reduced to 
slavery; and this source of supply 
was further increased by kidnap- 
ping. From Augustus to the be- 
ginning of the barbarian invasions 
(§ 157) there were few wars and 
the number of slaves consequently 
grew less. 

The care of a lordly residence 
required the service of a multitude 
of slaves. Many were needed to 
admit the guests, many to care for 
the baths, bedrooms, kitchen, and 
dining rooms, as well as for the 
personal service of each member of 
the family. On going out the 
master or mistress was accompanied 
by a throng of servants, whose num- 
ber and splendid livery advertised 
the rank and wealth of their owner. 
Other companies of domestic slaves 
spun wool, made clothes, kept the house in repair, and cared 
for the sick. There were some whose task was to enforce order 
and quiet among the rest. 

In the industries most of the labor, both skilled and unskilled, 
was in the hands of slaves. They made wares of iron, copper, 




A Grain Mill 

Marble copy in the Vatican. 
Operated by horsepower, managed 
by a slave. Some others were 
worked by treadmill or by hand. 
Many actual mills have been found 
in Pompeii. 



1 A famous Greek physician, born about 460 B.C. 
Sihler, Hellenic Civilization, p. 298 f. 



For the oath see Botsford and 



Laborers 129 

silver, and gold. They were the cobblers, gem-cutters, glass- 
makers, potters, millers, bakers, masons, bricklayers, and car- 
penters. The shops were filled with slaves, and the more in- 
telligent of their number acted as foremen or transacted the 
business of their masters. It is not strange, therefore, that 
freemen often found it impossible to make a living for them- 
selves and their families whether in business or by the labor of 
their hands. 

As a rule the master treated his slaves with great cruelty. 
For the slightest offences he whipped, tortured, or crucified them. 
In the country they often worked in gangs chained together, 
and slept in crowded, filthy dungeons. Under the principate, 
however, men and women gradually learned to treat their slaves 
with greater kindness. Claudius and other princes after him 
made laws to protect them, till at last they came to be regarded 
as human beings. 

It often happened that a slave won his freedom by faithful 
service or purchased it with his savings. He then became a 
client of his former master, whose business he usually helped 
manage. The freedmen formed a large, intelligent class, 
socially inferior to freemen, but very enterprising and in- 
fluential. 

140. The Large Estate and its Tenants. — Most of the land 
in the provinces had been gathered up into large estates owned 
by the prince or by wealthy individuals. An estate of the kind 
contained thousands of acres of arable land, orchards and vine- 
yards, pasture, and woodland. The mansion was strongly 
built of stone and provided with turrets for defence. In it 
lived the proprietor, or in his absence the conductor, a man who 
had taken a lease of the entire estate. Near the mansion were 
the granaries and the storehouses, in which were gathered the 
grain, fruit, and wine. There were stables; too, for the domestic 
animals, and huts for the slaves. Here and there stood the 
shrines of the gods worshipped by the people of the estate. 

There had come to be so great a scarcity of slaves, however, 
that the conductor could till but a small part of the estate with 
their labor. The rest of it he let out in small lots to free tenants 



130 Literature 

for a period of perhaps five years. For the sake of protection 
they grouped their houses in villages. The lands along the 
frontier were especially exposed to raids of the barbarians, and 
therefore required defence. For that reason the mansion, 
storehouses, and villages were surrounded by walls, and some- 
times the entire estate was thus fortified. 

The rents which the tenants paid were not unreasonable; 
but the conductor compelled them to labor for him. They 
built and kept in repair, not only their own cottages, but also 
the mansion, the barns, shrines, and works of defence. They 
planted the orchards and vineyards, and attended to the drain- 
age and irrigation. They toiled in the fields which the con- 
ductor had retained for himself. Although he was merely a 
private person, he assumed the powers of a magistrate in his 
dealings with the peasants, and exacted from them labor and 
gifts beyond their capabilities. They applied for redress to 
the prince's agent (proc-u-ra'tor), who lived on or near the 
estate, and whose duty was to see that they had justice ; but 
too often this official made common cause with the conductor, 
and shared the profits of his oppression. Sometimes the 
peasants sent a piteous complaint to the prince, begging him 
to rescue them from the clutches of their oppressors. Although 
he wished them well and laid down regulations for their better 
treatment, he was himself at the mercy of his agents, who were 
too far away from him to feel their responsibility. The peasants 
had to remain on the estate, and continually renew their leases ; 
for their homes were there, and they could find no better terms 
under other masters. Though free in name, they were fast 
becoming serfs (§ 152). 

III. Literature 

141. The Golden Age. — Our study of social life led us from 
the capital of the empire to the border provinces. For a view 
of the literature under the principate it is necessary to return 
to Rome. For a time the high standard reached by Cicero 
and his contemporaries was maintained. It is true that the 



The Golden Age 131 

principate afforded little scope for statesmanship outside the 
ruling family; and for that reason it produced no orator com- 
parable with Cicero. Under the patronage of Augustus, how- 
ever, there was splendid production in other fields. Because 
of the excellent quality of its literary work the period of his 
rule is known as the Golden Age. The most celebrated poet of 
the time was Vergil, whose JE-ne'id tells in stately epic the 
story of the wanderings of the hero ^E-ne'as, the mythical 
ancestor of Romulus, founder of Rome. The poem glorifies 
the beginnings of Rome and at the same time the families of 
Caesar and Augustus, which claimed descent from the same 
hero. The spirit of the great imperial age found expression 
in the brilliant splendor of the poem; and the author's gentle 
sympathy with nature and man tells us that the world was 
growing kinder and more humane. 

Horace, contemporary of Vergil, composed Satires, Odes, and 
Epistles in verse. Writing on personal, social, and public 
topics, he stands forth as the poet of common-sense and good 
taste. With rare felicity of expression and knowledge of men, 
he upholds a philosophy of life which has always appealed to 
the practical mind : the enjoyment of pleasures as they come, 
freedom from care as to the future, the renunciation of high 
ambitions, the cultivation of friendship and sociability, of the 
refined joys of private life, of art and song. Such teachings 
produce no heroes or reformers; but to the generation that 
took part in the dreadful civil wars they were a wholesome lesson. 

Livy, a friend of Augustus, composed a History of Rome in 
a hundred and forty-two books, of which we still possess about 
one-fourth. Like Vergil, he aimed to inspire the Romans of 
his age with a nobler ambition by bringing before their eyes 
in stately language the glories of their past. He was not 
especially critical in his search for facts ; yet his sympathy with 
the persons and parties he believed to be in the right, the modera- 
tion of his judgment, his interest in personal character, and his 
lively dramatic style make him one of the most attractive of 
ancient historians. His work is one of our principal sources of 
information for most of the period covered by the books still 
preserved. 



132 Literature 

142. The Silver Age. — After Augustus literature in general 
declined. This later period is therefore called the Silver Age. 
In this time, however, we find a few writers who in their own 
way were as eminent as any of their predecessors. Among 
them was Tacitus the historian. His Ger-ma'ni-a is an account 
of the customs, institutions, and character of the German 
tribes of his time — about 100 a.d. His Annals and Histories, 
of which we still have many books, covered a considerable 
period following the death of Augustus. His experience as an 
army officer and statesman gave him a clear understanding of 
military and political events. His whole sympathy, however, 
was with the aristocracy; and these feelings led him to mis- 
judge the princes, whom he looked upon as tyrants and usurpers. 
For sympathy with common men we must look to the provin- 
cial literature, and especially to the Christian writings collected 
in the New Testament (ch. xii). 

Some of the Romans of this age were interested in collecting 
and systematizing facts. A writer of this character was Pliny 
the Elder, who composed a Natural History, in reality an en- 
cyclopaedia of the arts and sciences. The author was extremely 
industrious in culling notes from hundreds of works; but he 
lacked the method and the discrimination of a true scientist. 
Along with a vast amount of sound information, accordingly, 
his work contains much that is merely fanciful. 

Gradually the writers declined in intelligence and in literary 
style. The tendency was to neglect the direct study of nature 
and the acquisition of new facts, and to depend for information 
on the labors of earlier generations. 

Topics for Reading 

I. Augustus. — Botsford, History of the Ancient World, 451-62; 
Source-Book of Ancient History, 464-74 ; Munro, Source-Book of Roman 
History, 143-8 ; Pelham, Outlines of Roman History, 398-469 ; Firth, 
Augustus; Shuckburgh, Augustus. 

II. Hadrian (one of the ablest of Roman emperors). — Botsford, 
Ancient World, 487-9 ; Story of Rome, 295-302 ; Davis, Roman Empire, 
111-21. 



Sttidies 133 

III. The Family. — Johnston, Private Life of the Romans, ch. i ; 
Preston and Dodge, Private Life of the Romans, ch. i ; Tucker, Life in 
the Roman World of Nero and St. Paul, ch. xvi (women and marriage) ; 
Duruy, History of Rome, V. ch. lxxxii. 

IV. Education: Schools and Books. — Preston and Dodge, 58-66; 
Johnston, ch. iv; Tucker, chs. xvii, xx; Inge, Society inRome under the 
Ccesars, ch. vii; Abbott, Society and Politics in Ancient Rome, 191-214. 

V. Slaves and Dependents. — Johnston, ch. v; Preston and Dodge, 
ch. iii ; Inge, 147-71; Pellison, Roman Life in Pliny's Time, ch. iv; 
Davis, Influence of Wealth in the Roman Empire, 194-224. 

VI. Means of Living. — Johnston, ch. xi; Inge, 105-18; Pellison, 
ch. v ; Mau, Pompeii, pt. iii ; Davis, chs. iii, v. 

VII. Travel. — Tucker, ch. ii; Davis, 95-105; Pellison, 228-70; 
Johnston, 278-87. 

Review 

1. What is the meaning of the word prince as used in this chapter? 
In what respects did the government of Augustus differ from that of 
Caesar, and why was this change made? 2. How did the prince be- 
come a monarch? 3. How did the people of the empire come to wor- 
ship the prince? What effect had this worship on his power? 4. Did 
the prince try to gain as much power as possible, or did the people 
urge powers upon him? Explain your answer. Define bureaucracy. 
5. Describe the roads. What were they used for? What effect had 
they on the prince's power? 6. Give an account of the colonies. 
How did they affect the civilization of the neighborhood? 7. Distin- 
guish between the eastern and western halves of the empire in language 
and civilization. 8. Describe the growth of cities (§ 126). 9. Classify 
the population of a city. Name and define its governing institutions. 
Describe the campaigns for office. 10. What is "public spirit"? 
How did the city pay the expenses of government ? What was expected 
of the officials, and what was their remuneration ? What was the general 
condition of the cities in this period? n. Compare the Romans with 
the Greeks. 12. Describe the education of girls. 13. What were 
the marriage customs of the Romans? What was the intellectual and 
social condition of women? 14. Describe a Roman street (c/. the pic- 
ture on p. 120). 15. Describe the tenement ; the home of the wealthy. 
Define atrium ; peristyle. Describe the water supply and the means of 
warming. 16. What were the occupations of the senatorial class? 
What callings did they despise, and why? 17. Who were the knights ? 
What was their social standing? What were their occupations? 18. 
Describe the banking system. 19. Name some of the manufactured 
products and articles of commerce. What were the means of conveying 
goods? Describe the guild. 20. What were the objects and the means 
of travel? What were its inconveniences and dangers ? 21. Name and 



134 Literature 

describe the professions. How were they learned? 22. From what 
sources did the Romans obtain their slaves? Why did the number 
decrease? What were their occupations? What change took place in 
their treatment? What were freedmen? 23. Describe the large es- 
tate and its tenants. Where were such estates situated, and to whom 
did they belong ? 24. Who were the leading authors under Augustus, 
and what did they severally write? Describe these works. 25. What 
is meant by the Silver Age? 26. Name and describe the writings of 
Tacitus ; the work of Pliny the Elder. What is the New Testament ? 
How does the literature after Augustus compare with the works of 
Vergil and Horace? 

Additional Studies 

1. Why should not the government of Augustus be called a mon- 
archy? Was the principate more like a monarchy than a republic? 
2. The word prince is here used in a special sense. How does it differ 
from the more common meaning of the word? 3. Why was the prince's 
government of the provinces more efficient than that of the senate? 
4. In what ways was the government of the prince better than the 
republic? 5. Why was the senate so willing to yield power to the 
prince? 6. Compare the power of Augustus with that of the President 
of the United States. 7. What were the two most important effects of 
bureaucracy ? 8. Why did Rome favor the Greek language and civiliza- 
tion in the eastern half of her empire? 9. Which half of the empire 
was the more populous, wealthy, and cultured? 10. Compare the 
Romans with the Greeks as business men. Why did the Romans de- 
spise most livelihoods? n. Why were the Romans in a position to 
develop banking much farther than the Greeks? 12. In what ways 
did the growth of an empire help commerce? 13. Compare the Roman 
guild with the modern trades union. 14. Write a syllabus of this chap- 
ter like that on p. 100. 15. Read Botsford, Source-Book, chs. xxxviii- 
xlii, or selections from them chosen by the instructor, and answer the 
questions on these selections. 16. Write an essay on one of the Read- 
ing Topics. 



CHAPTER X 
THE DECLINE OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 

143. Introduction: the Highest Reach of Ancient Civiliza- 
tion. — The great age of prosperity of the Roman empire lay 
nearly within the first two centuries of our era. Even in that 
period, however, we can discover the beginnings of a decay that 
was to bring the world back to semi-barbarism. The decline of 
the Roman empire, it is to be noted, was in fact the decline of 
ancient civilization. In tracing the causes of this great ca- 
tastrophe it is necessary to go back to the Greek period, and to 
emphasize the fact that the history of ancient civilization has 
to do mainly with the Greeks. In those times they were the 
brain of the world. 

The civilization of the ancient world was at its height in the 
period extending from 500 to 200 B.C. In the earlier part of this 
age the Greeks produced their most beautiful literature and art ; 
in the later part they brought science to the highest point at- 
tained before the beginning of modern times. From the second 
century B.C. literature, art, and science steadily declined. 

144. Social and Political Causes of Decline. — A reason why 
the Greeks did not continue to make scientific progress has been 
found in the fact that slavery degraded labor. The philosopher 
thought it beneath the dignity of an educated freeman to give 
the minute attention to material things that was necessary to 
the invention of scientific instruments. Then, too, no well-born 
Greek wanted to amass an unlimited fortune. His whole 
education and the trend of public opinion led him to moderation 
in his desires. The richer he grew, the more he was exposed to 
the criticism of his fellow-men. This consideration explains 

13s 



136 The Decline of the Roman Empire 

why he did not devote himself to labor-saving and money- 
making devices. 

At the same time a great political cause was in operation. 
The genius of the Greeks was most creative in the period of 
the city-states. Their strenuous rivalry in war and peace was 
highly stimulating. As the city-states declined, the Greek 
genius became less active. Even the protective, paternal spirit 
gradually adopted by the Roman empire was detrimental to 
manliness. The aid given to the poor in Rome and in all the 
cities, in cheap or free grain and in public entertainments and 
festivals, made them less competent to depend on themselves. 
At the same time the feeling of complete security from foreign 
enemies operated, with other causes, to render them unwarlike. 
They felt that the empire was the only state on earth, and called 
it " the world." There was no international competition in 
war or in diplomacy or in trade — nothing from the outside to 
stimulate. The result was sluggishness. 

145. Roman Repression of Freedom. — A closely related 
cause of decay is to be found in the policy of imperial govern- 
ment. The great empires of the East, from the Egyptian to 
the Alexandrian, had in a varying degree discouraged indepen- 
dent thought. Men of genius were hard to manage. The re- 
straints put upon them by society and government often drove 
them to rebellion or other crime, for which they were put to 
death. In this way their genius was lost to the world, and the 
punishment inflicted on them cowed their fellows into sub- 
mission. The Greeks were right therefore in looking upon the 
Orientals as slavish by nature; but in time they themselves 
tended to fall into the same condition. Here is a reason why 
the Romans found it so easy to conquer the East. It was far 
more difficult to subdue the Spaniards and other free peoples 
of western Europe. They did not submit till all the bravest 
and most intelligent of their number had perished ; and what- 
ever courage and mentality remained was gradually crushed 
by the Roman government, notwithstanding its tolerance of 
local freedom. The West tended to become cowardly and 
inactive in mind, as the East had been for ages. The result of 



Oppression and Depopulation 137 

mental weakening can be briefly told. During the imperial 
period no great progress was made in literature, art, or science. 
The knowledge which the world once possessed stored up in 
books was gradually lost, and mankind lapsed therefore into 
ignorance and semi-barbarism. 

146. Depopulation. — Another cause of decline was depopu- 
lation. The reason why the people continually became fewer 
is to be found chiefly in the growth of city life already mentioned. 
It is well known that city people as a rule have had less vitality 
than those of the country, and that in the past the population of 
a city has tended to die out unless it was constantly recruited 
from the country. 1 Generally city people, too, insist on more 
comforts and luxuries — that is, they have a higher standard 
of living — than those of the country. Again, in the country 
it costs little to rear children, and at an early age they are put 
to work, so that they actually become profitable; whereas in 
the city the cost of bringing them up is far greater and there is 
little opportunity for them to work. For these reasons city 
people are less inclined to marry and to bring up large families 
than those of the country. All this is true of the inhabitants 
of the Roman empire. Ancient law gave the father a right to kill 
his children at their birth ; and the higher his standard of living 
became, the more inclined he was to kill all his children or to 
let but one or two grow up, that he and they might derive the 
greater enjoyment from his estate. As early as the second cen- 
tury B f c. all Greece was suffering from this affliction. At the 
same time the population of Italy was so dwindling that it 
became more and more difficult for Rome to find men for her 
armies. For this reason statesmen began to fear for the safety 
of the empire; and attempts were made to check the decline, 
but in vain. 

147. Collapse of the Money System. — The cause of de- 
population mentioned in the paragraph above was in part 
economic, as it had to do with the means of living. It is neces- 

1 Recent sanitary improvements, however, have enabled cities not only to main- 
tain but actually to increase their population, without the necessity of drawing upon 
the country. 



138 



The Decline of the Roman Empire 




sary now to consider how economic causes acted in other ways 
to bring about the condition in which we find the world at the 
beginning of the Middle Ages. The lack of enterprise under 
the principate is illustrated by the fact that there was little 
mining of precious metals, so that the amount of gold and silver 
in the civilized world was not materially increased. On the 
other hand the precious metals were constantly being used in 
the arts, stored up as offerings in temples, and hoarded by 
private persons. A great drain on the currency was caused also 
by the exportation of vast sums annually to Arabia, India, and 

China in exchange for silks, 
spices, perfumes, and other 
luxuries. Little of the gold 
and silver sent to the far 
East ever returned. As 
a result the amount of 
money in circulation be- 
came smaller every year. 
The princes could think of 
no other remedy than that 
of making the coins lighter 
and of debasing the silver 
pieces by mixing copper 
with that metal. A little 
alloy is an advantage but the amount was increased so rapidly 
that in the middle of the third century a.d. the pieces which had 
once been silver, and were still so in name, had come to be nearly 
all copper. Just enough silver was introduced to give the coins 
a pale appearance which made them pass for silver while still 
unworn with use. A piece which in the time of Augustus was 
worth forty cents came to be worth about one cent. It is a well 
known fact that a baser metal when coined in unlimited quan- 
tities, and at a lower value than that of the market, drives all 
other metals from circulation ; for a man will not pay a debt in 
good gold when the law allows the use of cheap copper for the 
purpose. The result was that the issue of pale-copper coins 
stopped the circulation of all gold and silver money. 



A Gold Coin of the Empire 

Before the decline. Worth about '$4.75. 
Obverse : head of Otho with an inscription 
signifying ' Imperator Marcus Otho Augustus, 
with Tribunician Power.' Reverse : the god- 
dess Securitas holding a crown in the right 
hand, a lance in the left, with the inscription 
'Security of the Roman People.' 



Money and Taxes 139 

But coins of the value of one cent will not alone suffice for the 
business of an empire. Hence people had to carry on business 
by barter ; and so far as the precious metals were used, they 
were given in exchange by weight — not as money, but like 
wool, grain, and other commodities. In this way the world 
for a time lost the use of money — one of the most important 
elements of civilization. It was a long step backward in the 
direction of barbarism. This condition of things was partially 
remedied by Diocletian, 284-305 a.d., and his successors, who 
issued new gold and silver coins. But much of the evil remained, 
and the capricious interference of these later rulers in eco- 
nomic matters wrought more damage than benefit. 

148. The New Taxes in Kind. — The effect of this want 
of money on the government, and through it on society, is still 
more remarkable. We must notice first that the cost of main- 
taining the government had become many times as great under 
Diocletian as it had been under Augustus, (1) because of an 
increase in the number of soldiers and in their pay, and more 
especially (2) because of the enormous increase in the number 
of magistrates, (3) because of the increased splendor and ex- 
travagance of the emperors and their higher officials. But as 
the coinage depreciated, the taxes in money came to be almost 
worthless. The government had to resort therefore to taxes 
in kind — grain, meat, cloth, leather, iron, and other products. 
The heavy poll tax thereafter imposed on laborers, both men and 
women, discouraged the poor from rearing children. The unjust 
land tax forced many peasant proprietors to give up their good 
fields and settle on sterile mountain land in order to lighten 
their burden. From the same motive men abandoned or de- 
stroyed their orchards and vineyards. Hence the soil of the 
empire constantly became less productive; and this decline 
further hastened the depopulation. 

149. Money Taxes ; Forced Labor. — Merchants and arti- 
sans had a different tax. On his accession the emperor dis- 
tributed gifts among his soldiers and officials, and entertained 
the people of the capital with shows and feasting. Every 
fifth anniversary of his accession he celebrated in a similar way. 



140 The Decline of the Roman Empire 

The expense was paid from a tax levied on the tradesmen. It 
had to be paid in gold and silver, and was harshly exacted. 
Often parents had to sell their children into slavery in order 
that the idle populace of the capital might have their feasts 
and the soldiers their presents. 

As the emperor received little money for other purposes, 
he could not hire laborers. When public works were to be 
erected or repaired, accordingly, he forced men to labor on 
them without pay. Work animals were levied in the same way. 
Forced labor was especially oppressive as it was imposed without 
reason or mercy. The peasant's crop for the year might be 
totally ruined by a few days' absence at seed-time or harvest. 
In resorting to the harsh, crude system of taxes in kind for the 
support of the government the world was degenerating into 
barbarism. The system nearly ruined the empire. The great 
lord still derived profit from his land, (i) because his tax was 
proportionately lighter, (2) because he was powerful enough 
to shirk much of his duty. But the field of the peasant became 
worse than worthless to the owner. 

150. Hereditary Social Classes. — We are now in a position 
to understand how it was that in the late empire society came 
to be organized in a system of hereditary classes, which en- 
slaved the minds and bodies of the multitude and thus com- 
pleted the wreck of ancient civilization. One of the chief 
tasks of the government had long been to supply Rome, after- 
ward Constantinople as well, with food. The people who 
attended to this work were chiefly the grain-merchants, bakers, 
cattle-dealers, and swine-dealers. They were organized in 
guilds, which were given privileges to attract as many as pos- 
sible. It is natural for the son to inherit the occupation, along 
with the estate, of the father. This tendency increases as a 
people lose energy, originality, and enterprise. There were 
plenty of merchants till the emperor Diocletian ordered them 
to take upon themselves without pay the transportation of all 
government property including the taxes in kind. As this 
new burden seemed too great to bear, many tried to forsake 
their occupation, whereupon he ordered them to continue in it 



Hereditary Classes 141 

and their sons after them. For similar reasons all the guilds be- 
came hereditary that the members might be compelled to do 
their duty to the state. Nothing could be more destructive to 
liberty than such an arrangement. The jealous eyes of the 
association were always upon each member to see that he bore 
without shirking his part of the common burden. The tyranny 
of guild rule was more galling than that of the most despotic 
emperor. 

151. Public Services become Hereditary. — We must now 
consider how the system of taxation made membership in the 
municipal council — the curia — hereditary. These members 
— curiales — as stated above (§ 127), were well-to-do men. To 
insure the collection of taxes the emperor made them responsible 
for the amount due from their city. In case they failed to collect 
any part of the tax imposed, they had to make good the de- 
ficiency from their own estates. But their burden in providing 
for the needs of their own community was heavy enough. When 
therefore this additional load was placed on their shoulders, 
many wished to retire into private life. The emperor then 
made the position hereditary and required all who owned above 
twenty-five acres to accept and retain the place for life. If a 
man went to another city, he was liable to curial service in 
both. The office lost all honor, for no inquiry was now made 
as to the character or occupation of proposed members; and 
when once a man had entered, nothing short of bankruptcy 
could relieve his family of the oppressive load. The condition 
of the curiales was even more unenviable than that of the 
tradesmen. 

Naturally those engaged in the military or civil service of 
the emperor were free from liability to enrolment among the 
curiales. Their sons were liable, however, till the emperor 
Constantine declared that sons had a right to the offices of 
their fathers. This edict made the civil and military posts 
hereditary, for no one was so self-sacrificing as to exchange an 
easy, honorable place under the emperor for a life of drudgery 
as a curialis. The same consideration induced the sons of 
soldiers to follow the vocation of their fathers. 



142 The Decline of the Roman Empire 

152. Growth of Serfdom. — Lastly let us consider how the 
condition of tenants and of peasant proprietors was made 
hereditary by law, and how these two classes together with the 
rural slaves were merged in one great class of serfs. The more 
the population dwindled, the more important it became that 
everyone, slave or free, should do his part in supporting the 
government. Hence it was that the government watched 
more and more carefully over each individual. It had often 
happened that slaves escaped taxation by being sold from one 
province to another, or even from one estate to another. That 
the government might keep a stricter account of rural slaves, 
Constantine ordered that they should not be sold off the estate 
on which they were born or given their liberty. By this act 
they ceased to be slaves and became serfs, so attached to the 
soil as to be bought and sold along with it. The tenants — 
co-lo'ni — were once free to move about as they wished and to 
rent land of any lord with whom they could make satisfactory 
terms. But when heavy taxes rendered their lot hard, many 
deserted the farms they had taken in rental, either to seek 
more indulgent lords or to swarm into the cities. To put 
a stop to this evil, which would soon have destroyed the pop- 
ulation, Constantine bound the tenant and his descendants 
forever to the soil. Thus the tenants, too, became serfs. In 
like manner the small freeholders, finding their taxes too heavy, 
tried to escape, whereupon they with their descendants were 
bound forever to the soil by order of the emperor. The work 
of converting the greater part of the rural laborers to serfs was 
thus completed. 

153. The Large Landowners. — Mention has been made 
of the large landowners. Most of them throughout the empire 
were senators. Though many were military or civil officers, 
on actual duty or retired, few ever sat in the senate either at 
Rome or at Constantinople. The word senator had come to 
denote a rank rather than a post or function. Men of the class 
were under no obligation to become curiales and had few bur- 
dens in addition to the tax on their lands and field-laborers. 
The lord was in a position not only to shirk much of his duty 



Lords and Serfs 



143 



to the state but also to screen his tenants from injustice and 
sometimes even from just obligations. It was soon discovered 
that the tenant's condition was happier, therefore, than that of 
the freeholder. Many freeholders accordingly made haste to 
give up their lands to a lord and become his tenants on con- 
dition of receiving his protection, or patronage. Generally 
the lord was glad to receive such persons, as they paid well for 




A Country House, Villa, of the Late Empire 

Fourth to seventh century, Syria. The principal buildings are surrounded by a 
stone wall for defence. Attached to the walls within are long buildings which serve 
as storerooms and stables. The front of the lord's dwelling is a two-storied portico. 
On our right is a garden with trees. Outside the walls are less valuable farm build- 
ings. From Vogue, 'Architecture civile et religieuse de la Syrie,' etc. 

their protection either in produce from the lands they held 
or in money or service. Every increase in his wealth and in 
the number of his dependents gave the lord greater power to 
defy the tax-collector and other officers of the empire. Often 
therefore he granted parcels of his own land to tenants on simi- 
lar terms. As the tenants thus protected shirked their duties 
to the state, the government attempted, though in vain, to 
check the bestowal of patronage. The bond between lord and 



144 The Decline of the Roman Empire 

tenant was drawn closer by the custom known as commendation. 
By this act a defenceless person put himself under the protec- 
tion of another, agreeing in return to be faithful to his protector. 
The attachment of multitudes of citizens to the lords, rather 
than to the state, greatly weakened the empire and hastened 
its decline. In a later chapter it will be made clear that the 
grant of lands to tenants on condition that the latter commend 
themselves to the lord who bestows the property, is one of the 
chief elements of feudalism. This institution, thus germinating 
in the Roman empire, was to mature in the period known as 
the Middle Ages. During the empire the relation of the de- 
pendent to his lord remained purely social and economic; 
feudalism began at the point of time when the duty of the pro- 
tected person came to include military service to his lord. 1 

Syllabus of the Decline 

I. Introduction : highest reach of ancient civilization, 500-200 B.C. ; 
art, literature, and science. 
II. Early social and political causes of decline : (1) slavery degrades 
labor; (2) limitation of enterprise by public opinion; (3) decline 
of the city-state and rise of imperialism. 

III. Under the Roman empire. 

1. Repression of freedom; paternalism; lack of competition. 

2. Concentration of the population within cities and resulting 

depopulation ; the killing of children. 

3. Increasing expenses of government ; collapse of the money sys- 

tem ; taxes in kind ; new taxes in gold and silver ; forced 
labor ; the burden too heavy to bear. 

4. Crystallization of society in hereditary classes : guilds ; mili- 

tary and civil service ; curiales ; peasants and slaves ; growth 
of serfdom ; great landlords ; beginnings of feudalism. 
Gradual loss of knowledge and skill; growing superstition 
(§§ 142, 145)- 

Topics for Reading 

I. Diocletian. — Botsford, Source-Book of Ancient History, 527 - 3 2 ; 
Bury, Constitution of the Later Roman Empire; Gibbon, Decline and 
Fall of the Roman Empire, ch. xiii ; Duruy, History of Rome, VII. ch. xcix. 

1 The grant of a piece of land or other property was termed a benefit (or benefice, 
Lat. ben-e-fic' i-um), and in the Middle Ages this word extended to the thing 
granted. 



Studies 145 

II. Causes of Decline. — Davis, Roman Empire, 142-50; Duruy, 
VIII. 364-77; Dill, Roman Society in the Last Century of the Western 
Empire, bk. iii ; Bury, Later Roman Empire, I. ch. iii ; Botsford, Source- 
Book, ch. xliii. The historians of the Middle Ages usually begin with a 
study of the decline. 

Review 

With the syllabus before you comment on each topic in order. 

Additional Studies 

1. Why did the city-states of the ancient world decline? 2. Why 
did the Roman empire offer less encouragement to mental and artistic 
effort than had the Greek city-states? 3. Which produces the greater 
physical strength and endurance, agricultural life or factory life? 

4. Mention all the causes of decline which were in any way economic. 

5. Would the empire probably have declined if all the inhabitants had 
been free? 6. How could the change of abode from plain to mountain 
lighten a peasant's tax? 7. Why could not the people of Rome and 
Constantinople supply themselves with food, without assistance from 
the emperors? 8. How far were the emperors responsible for the 
wretched condition of the late empire? To what extent was the evil 
beyond their power to control? 9. Why was there in the late empire 
so much land lying uncultivated? 10. Write an essay on one of the 
Reading Topics above according to directions given on p. 9, last ques- 
tion. 11. Read Botsford, Source-Book, chs. xlii, xliii, and answer the 
questions at the close of these chapters. 



CHAPTER XI 



THE GERMANS 



154. Country and People. — In the time of the empire cen- 
tral Europe, east of the Rhine and north of the upper Danube, 
was covered with forests, here and there interrupted by damp, 




A German Village 
Reconstructed from descriptions by ancient authors. From 'Album historique.' 

unwholesome marshes. The country was rude in surface, 
rigorous in climate, and cheerless to every beholder — al- 
together unfavorable to the growth of civilization. The 

146 



Social and Public Life 147 

Germans, who inhabited this region, lived in huts usually 
grouped in villages. They fished and hunted, kept herds of 
cattle, and cultivated small patches of grain and vegetables. 
They were a tall, strong, fair race of barbarians, who loved 
war and despised labor. Though addicted to drunkenness 
and gambling, they had virtues which were now lacking in 
the people of the empire : their family life was pure ; they were 
true to their plighted word ; and they loved personal freedom. 
In contrast with the Romans of the time they reared large 
families. The population rapidly increased therefore in spite 
of the enormous loss of life from continual war among them- 
selves. Before they learned of Christ they worshipped the 
powers of nature and had neither temples nor images. 

155. Government; "Companionship." — On beginning a 
war the members of a tribe came together and elected a leader 
(Latin dux, duke). Because of continual warfare some tribes 
came to live permanently under chiefs, and in that case the 
office tended to become hereditary. Such rulers may be termed 
kings. The king was always a noble, and there were in the 
tribe other nobles — men distinguished for their own prowess 
or that of their ancestors. The nobles of a tribe met with the 
king in council to plan for the interests of their people. Minor 
questions they settled on their own responsibility; but those 
of greater importance, especially of war, peace, migrations, 
and the election of magistrates, they brought before the as- 
sembly of warriors for decision. 

There were private as well as tribal wars. Any strong, 
brave, enterprising freeman might attract to himself a band of 
young men who sought adventure or honor. They were called 
his companions (Latin com'i-tes, or collectively, com-i-ta'tus). 
Under an oath to be ever faithful they followed him not only 
in wars waged by his tribe but also in any private raid that he 
might plan. Their highest honor was to stand by his side in 
battle or to sit next to him at meals. Spoils gained in war or 
presents from friends were distributed among them according 
to the worth of each man ; so that they usually lived in superior 
style. It was a training school in war and in obedience and 



148 The Germans 

honor. There can be no doubt that the institution had con- 
siderable influence on the growth of feudalism (§ 177). 

156. Their Early Relations with the Empire. — The Germans 
did not all continue in the same stage of civilization. While 
those far away from the empire remained as barbarous as ever, 
the tribes or nations along the border rapidly learned to imitate 
the life of the Romans. They began to cultivate the fields 
more extensively, to. build more comfortable homes, to dress 
better, and to make more efficient tools and weapons. Chris- 
tian missionaries brought them the Gospel. The tribe known 
as the Vis'i-goths (West Goths), north of the Danube, accepted 
Christianity from Bishop Ul'fi-las, who translated the Bible 
into their speech. In Christian doctrine Ulfilas was an Arian 
— a follower of A-ri'us, whose form of belief will be explained 
in the chapter on Christianity (§ 164). The Goths therefore 
became Arians, as did all other barbarians who accepted Chris- 
tianity before invading the empire. This fact was to have an 
important effect on history (§ 170). 

As the Romans grew continually weaker, while the Germans 
and other northern tribes increased in numbers and strength, 
it was inevitable that the barbarians should become a menace 
to the empire. The first great horde of invaders came in the 
time of the republic. It was beaten and destroyed by Marius. 
Augustus tried in vain to conquer Germany. Thereafter the 
Northerners continued to grow more dangerous. Marcus 
Au-re'li-us, 161-180 A.D., spent the best years of his administra- 
tion in hard struggles for maintaining the frontier against their 
assaults. Their breaking through was only a question of time. 
As the nations nearest to the frontier were harassed by the more 
barbarous tribes on their outer border, it was but natural that 
many of them should want to settle within the empire, especially 
as vast tracts of land lay idle through lack of cultivators. 
Marcus Aurelius began the policy of colonizing the empire with 
barbarians on a grand scale. The effect was to weaken the enemy 
and to check depopulation. 

It was necessary for the government to watch carefully over 
these new settlers. In assigning them to vacant lands it for- 



Invasions 



149 




bade them to leave their holdings. They were required to pay 
rents and to do military duty when needed. As a rule these 
colonists remained quietly at home, exerting themselves to 
throw off all trace of their own nationality and to become Roman 
in customs and language. 

157. The Invasions. — Account must also be taken of those 
Germans who are said to have invaded the empire. In the 
third century a.d. they made many raids across the frontier, 
often defeating Roman armies and on one occasion killing an 
emperor. It was not till the 
opening of the fifth century 
that they began to make per- 
manent settlements within the 
borders. After many wander- 
ings the West Goths (§ 156) 
founded a kingdom in south- 
ern Gaul in 419. When at 
its height a half century later, 
it extended from the Loire 
river to the southern shores 
of Spain. Soon after the ar- 
rival of the West Goths the 
Bur-gun 'di-ans settled in the valley of the Rhone, and in 429 
the Vandals invaded Roman Africa and established a kingdom 
there. The Franks were already settling the left bank of the 
lower Rhine. Their conquest of the whole of Gaul under their 
king Clovis (486-511) will be considered below (§ 170). About 
the middle of the century the Angles and Saxons began to over- 
run Britain. Toward the end of the century (490) the East 
Goths (Os'tro-goths) entered Italy, and many years later 
(565) the same country was invaded by the Lombards. 1 

158. Relation of the Invaders to the Empire. — The story 
of the wanderings and wars of these tribes, though entertaining, 
has little value as history. It is far more useful to study their 
relation to the empire after their settlement in it. For under- 
standing this subject we must take into account a great change 

1 For the location of these kingdoms, see the map accompanying this chapter. 



German Women 

In an oxcart, a feature of the migrations. 
From 'Album historique.' 



i5° 



The Germans 



which had come about in the method of supporting the armies. 
The system of taxes in kind (§ 148) had proved too costly and 
cumbersome, and had broken down by its own weight. Espe- 
cially the roads had fallen out of repair, the bridges were in 
ruins, and wagons and beasts of burden failed through the 
general impoverishment of the Romans. It was necessary in 
time of peace to bring the soldiers near to the source of supply. 
They were quartered accordingly on 
the inhabitants. The first step in 
this process was to assign an army 
to a province or other district. The 
soldiers were then distributed among 
the cities, and in each city among 
the proprietors of land. Each lord 
had to give a third, or other speci- 
fied part, of his shelter to soldiers, 
and to provide them with food, 
clothing, and all necessaries from 
his estate. The family of the sol- 
dier was included in this arrangement. 
The army thus quartered had its 
officers and commander as in war; 
but for a time the provinces and cities 
retained their civil authorities as 
before. 

This system was now applied to the 
Germanic nations which settled in 
the empire. Each was an army in 
the service of the emperor, differing little from other Roman ar- 
mies. The German soldiers did not become owners of the land ; 
they were simply the guests of the proprietor, with a right to 
shelter and support. It was by bearing this burden that he 
performed his duty to the state — a substitute for the pay- 
ment of taxes. The system was oppressive; the German 
soldiers were often violent and brutal; but they were 
neither enemies nor conquerors. Their commander was 
at once " king " of his followers according to their native 




German Soldier 

With Roman equipment. 
Early Middle Ages. From 
Kleinpaul, 'Mittelalter.' 



Germans in the Empire 151 

custom, and a military officer of the emperor. Such 
was now the weakness of the imperial government, however, 
that these German kings finally acquired the civil power over 
their districts in addition to their military commands. Taking 
possession of the public lands, they kept a part for their own 
use and assigned the rest to their favorites and. followers. 
Private land remained in the hands of former owners. Though 
these chiefs were strongly inclined to independence, they con- 
tinued to regard the emperor as their sovereign, and some 
of them were still willing at critical times to fight in his 
cause. 

159. Dissolution of the Empire in the West. — The presence 
of these Germans, however, tended to the dissolution of the 
empire in the West. It fell into chaos. Britain was irre- 
trievably lost to it. The Vandals in Africa showed their hostil- 
ity to Rome by crossing in ships to Italy and sacking the city 
(455). Gaul and Spain, though more loyal, were practically 
worthless to the empire, as they afforded no revenue and could 
not ordinarily be depended upon for military aid. Practically 
Rome had to look to Italy alone for support. This country, too, 
was falling into the hands of Germans ; for the soldiers and the 
military officers were of that nationality. The emperors at 
Rome had come to be mere puppets of the German commander- 
in-chief. The last emperor there was Rom'u-lus — nicknamed 
Au-gus'tu-lus probably because of his youth. Shortly after his 
accession the German troops mutinied, and made O-do-a'cer, 
one of their number, king. He deposed Romulus, and retaining 
the kingship, sent his submission to Zeno, emperor at Con- 
stantinople, 476. By this arrangement the division of the 
empire into East and West for administrative purposes (§ 125) 
ceased, as the entire empire was henceforth to be ruled from Con- 
stantinople. From that date to the coronation of Char-le- 
magne' in 800 (§ 175) this condition remained unchanged. 
The continuance of the emperors in the East satisfied in some 
degree a want which Rome had left in the hearts of the bar- 
barians as well as of her native citizens — a longing for a cen- 
tral power which in the midst of the existing chaos should stand 



152 The Germans 

for law and order throughout the world. Most men, accord- 
ingly, even in the West, whatever their race or condition, 
thought of the Eastern emperor as their own. The German 
kings acknowledged his sovereignty and accepted offices from 
his hands, but their obedience went no farther than their own 
wishes and interests. While therefore the empire in the East 
remained strongly centralized, the West broke up into several 
independent kingdoms. 

160. The Blending of the Two Races. — Pursuing our study 
of the relations between the Germans and the Romans still 
further, we find that the natives were not deprived of their 
property by the Germans (§ 158), or reduced to slavery, or 
considered in any way inferior. All alike, without reference to 
race, paid taxes, or gave other support to the state, according 
to the amount of their land. All were liable to military service 
and eligible to office. In fact as the Germans were for a time 
unable to read and write and were ignorant of administration, 
the German king filled his civil offices with Romans, who in 
these positions managed most of the business of government. 
Intermarriages were common and the two races soon blended in 
one. German and Roman laws existed side by side for the two 
races respectively till the former gave way to the latter. For- 
getting their own language, the Germans learned to speak Latin. 
The religion of the natives also prevailed. It was that of the 
Church of Rome — Roman Catholic — whereas the invaders 
were either Arians (§ 164) or pagans ; but all eventually became 
Catholic, as will be explained below (§ 170). The question as 
to the influence of the Germans on morals is difficult. Their 
coming added greatly to the confusion, violence, and brutality 
of the time ; it hastened the decay of civilization and the reign 
of ignorance. At the same time it brought a better family 
life, and infused a new vitality into the population. Much 
more influence in these directions was exercised, however, by 
those who had for centuries been coming quietly into the empire, 
in comparison with whom the " armies " of the Germans here 
under consideration were a mere handful. For a long time 
Roman life continued almost untouched by the presence of 



Studies 153 

these foreigners. When we come to the reign of Charlemagne, 
we find a new life emerging from the old ; the Roman world had 
passed away, the Mediaeval world was at hand. 

Topics for Reading 

I. Life of the Primitive Germans. — Botsford, Source-Book, ch. 
xliv (from Tacitus, Germania) ; Duruy, History of Rome, VI. ch. xcv 
(the barbarians). 

II. Sack of Rome by the Goths and Vandals. — Lanciani, Destruc- 
tion of Rome, chs. v, vi ; Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, 
ch. xxxi (by the Goths), xxxvi (by the Vandals) ; edition of Bury, III. 
323-30, IV. 5-7 ; Hodgkin, Italy and her Invaders, I. 792-803, II. 283-6. 

Review 

1. Where did the Germans live in the time of the empire? Describe 
their country; their physique ; their religion. 2. Give an account of 
their government. Name and define their governing institutions. 
What was " companionship? " What were private wars? 3. Why 
and how did their civilization improve? How were they converted to 
Christianity? 4. Explain their peaceful introduction into the empire- 

5. What German tribes invaded the empire, and where did each settle? 

6. What arrangements did the Roman government make for their 
maintenance? What were the relations between these invaders and 
the natives? 7. How was the western half of the empire dissolved? 
By whom was it afterward ruled ? Was there still an emperor ? 8. Ex- 
plain the blending of the races in the empire. 

Additional Studies 

1. Contrast Germany (1) with Egypt, (2) with Greece. 2. Com- 
pare the early Germans with the North American Indians during the 
colonial period. Which had made the greater progress? Which had 
the greater capacity for improvement ? 3. Why did the Germans make 
slower progress in civilization than the Greeks and Romans? 4. Com- 
pare the government of the Germans with that of the early Greeks. 
5. Which was the greater danger to the empire, internal decay or the 
hostility of the barbarians? 6. Did the colonization of the empire by 
the barbarians have any bad effects? 7. Compare the system of 
quartering soldiers on landowners with the earlier method of support- 
ing the army. Which did the landowners probably prefer? 8. Were 
the German hordes which entered the empire really invaders ? 9. What 
features of Roman government and society continued to the time 
of Charlemagne, and what new features came from the Germans? 
Which was the more important of these two classes of features, or 
elements, of mediaeval life? 10. Read Botsford, Source-Book, ch. 
xliv, and answer the questions at the close of the chapter. 



CHAPTER XII 

CHRISTIANITY 

161. Origin and Character. — Christianity was founded by 
Jesus Christ. He was born in Ju-de'a, in the administration of 
Augustus. His teachings were so simple 
that all could understand them without 
explanation; love God and do unto 
others as you would have others do unto 
you, is the substance of what he had to 
say. His personality was lovable and 
he had a wonderful power of attracting 
people and of inspiring them with faith 
in himself and his word. Although he 
led a perfectly blameless life, the Jews, 
thinking him an enemy of their religion, 
falsely accused him before Pon'ti-us 
Pi 'late, the Roman governor of Judea, 
who cruelly put him to death on the 
cross. The four Gospels give the story 
of his life from the point of view of their 
respective writers. In simple, straight- 
forward narrative they tell of his birth, 
of his self-education, his life among 
men, his teachings, his miraculous 
cures of diseases, his death and resur- 
rection. 

He had gathered about him twelve 
men, who were especially close dis- 
ciples, who knew him and his teachings better than any 
others did. He commissioned them to carry on his work 
after his death. They are called his Apostles — that is, 

154 




The Good Shepherd 

A youth in shepherd's attire, 
carrying a sheep. Marble 
statue, third century, Lateran 
Museum. The early Chris- 
tians liked to think of Jesus 
as a shepherd, and themselves 
as his sheep. 



Christ and Apostles 155 

men " sent " on a special duty. The most famous were St. 
Peter and St. John. Some time afterward St. Paul, a man 
of learning and of great zeal, became an apostle. A brief 
account of their travels and teachings is given in the Acts of 
the Apostles. The Epistles are letters written by St. Paul and 
others to the various churches to explain Christianity and to 
encourage men to accept and live up to the faith. The Gospels, 
Acts, and Epistles together make up the New Testament, which 
is the part of the Bible treating of Christianity. 

The teachers of the new religion journeyed throughout the 
Roman empire and into other parts of the world, making con- 
verts to the faith. Everywhere the poor and the lowly accepted 
Christianity, for it was no respecter of persons but counted the 
slave of equal importance with the emperor. It presented to 
them Christ as the Son of God and their Saviour from sin and 
its punishment. It taught that in Christ man was so united 
with God as to receive from him wisdom and strength for every 
emergency of life. The believer felt that his sins were forgiven, 
and that he had become an heir to eternal happiness. In afford- 
ing man this close personal relation with God and the hope 
after death of dwelling with him forever in Heaven, Christian- 
ity satisfied a spiritual craving that had come over the world. 

162. Relation to the Empire. — During the first century of 
our era — which begins with the birth of Christ — his followers 
attracted little attention. The Roman government protected 
the public worship of all peoples within the empire and adopted 
many of their gods as its own. Considering the Christians 
merely as a sect of Jews, it usually left them undisturbed. In 
the second century, however, they grew more numerous and 
more powerful ; they had churches in every city and town of the 
empire and included many wealthy men and women, officers of 
government, and sometimes members of the imperial family. 

Trouble often arose between Christians and their pagan neigh- 
bors. Christians were forbidden to have anything to do with 
the pagan l worship. It was impossible for them, therefore, 

1 From pagani, a Latin word meaning country people. It was used to designate 
the worshippers of the Roman gods because the country people were the last to ac- 
cept Christianity. 



156 Christianity 

to sit at the table of a pagan or to join in any of the local or 
public festivities, for the gods were worshipped at every meal 
and every festival. The pagans, therefore, looking upon the 
Christians as exclusive and unsocial, began to hate them. 
The followers of Christ were extremely active, too, in making 
converts, for they were commanded to bring the whole world 
into their faith. Naturally the pagans were angry when they 
saw their near relatives converted and no longer at liberty to 
join with them in their usual social activities. 

This hatred of the Christians grew so great that the populace 
often rioted against them. On these occasions the magistrates 
always sided with the pagans and punished the Christians as 
disturbers of the peace. In other ways they fell into trouble. 
They formed a vast secret society, and each congregation held 
its secret meetings. The government, always suspicious of 
such associations, looked upon those of the Christians as espe- 
cially mischievous. Whenever a member was called before a 
magistrate and asked to prove bis loyalty to Rome by worship- 
ping the Genius of the emperor (§ 122), his refusal was looked 
upon as disloyalty. 

When, therefore, the pagans came forward and falsely stated 
that the Christians in their secret meetings practised the most 
depraved immoralities, and even killed and ate children, the 
officers of the law were ready to believe them. In their super- 
stitious hatred the pagans asserted that famine, pestilence, 
earthquakes, and other calamities were sent by the gods in 
their indignation at the Christians, and the government itself 
adopted this view. Some of the emperors, looking upon them 
as vile, lawless wretches, ordered the officials to punish with 
imprisonment, torture, and death those who refused to give 
up the faith. In Church history the execution of these com- 
mands is termed persecution. There were periods of persecu- 
tion broken by intervals of comparative quiet. They were 
most severe toward the end of the third and the beginning of 
the fourth century. Through all these tribulations the Church 
grew rapidly in numbers and strength. Its vitality was marvel- 
lous. 



Relation to the Empire 157 

163. Organization of the Church. — The Church was strong 
not only in spirit but in organization. In the beginning each 
society of worshippers was independent. It elected a board of 
elders, or presbyters, to look after its interests and to instruct 
the congregation in religion. There were deacons, too, whose 
main duty was the care of the poor, for from the beginning the 
Christians gave great attention to charity. In time the churches 
came to be grouped in a complex system. A district containing 
a number of small churches was placed under the care of an 
overseer, or bishop, whose large sumptuous church was in a 
city of the district. The bishops of a province were subject 
to the archbishop, who resided in the capital of the province. 
Among these higher bishops those at Rome, Constantinople, 
Jerusalem, and some other places were held in still higher 
honor. They were generally termed patriarchs. For the one 
at Rome the term pope 1 came in time to be preferred. Thus all 
Christendom was brought into obedience to a few great officials. 
One more step in centralization — the substitution of a single 
head — would make the government of the Church a monarchy. 
In another aspect Christianity was a democracy, for all its 
members were equal before God. Common freemen and even 
slaves had the right, if they possessed ability, to rise to the 
highest offices. 

164. The Empire is Christianized ; Theological Sects. — 
The strong organization of the Church and the restless energy 
of its members made it. the greatest power in the Roman world. 
The emperor Con 'stan- tine (306-337), whose early associations 
made him favorable to Christianity, was glad to have the sup- 
port of so great a power. Accordingly he granted the Chris- 
tians complete liberty of worship, and aided the churches with 
money from his treasury. In this way he raised Christianity 
to a level with paganism. Constantine was himself converted 
to the new faith and encouraged it rather than the old. Some 
time after him Christianity was made the sole religion of the 
empire and paganism was forbidden by law. 

1 The word pope (Latin papa, father) was for a time applied to other bishops and 
to common priests. It was not till the eleventh century that the title came to be 
restricted to the bishop at Rome. 



158 



Christianity 



Meantime a Christian theology was growing up. The 
teachings of Christ are simple, as has been said above. They 
contain no creed. For a time after his death his followers 
thought and spoke mainly of the personal tie which bound them 
to their Saviour. Not satisfied merely with believing, some 
of them attempted to explain the nature of their belief and the 
relation of one part of it to another. This is especially true 




Old Basilica of St. Peter 

At Rome, founded by Constantine, and greatly enlarged and modified in the 
following centuries. In front is an oblong space, piazza, surrounded by porticoes. 
In the sixteenth century the church was demolished to make room for the present 
St. Peter's. From drawings of the sixteenth century. 

of the Greek philosophers who had accepted the faith. In 
their effort to explain and systematize Christianity they brought 
their philosophy into it. Many ideas, too, were introduced 
from Roman law. They gradually built upon the original 
simple faith an intricate theology, full of fine distinctions which 
none but themselves could understand. Differing from one 
another, they created opposing doctrines. Each believed his 
own view to be the only truth, the only way of salvation, 



Theology and Creed 159 

whereas those who differed were heretics and under the wrath 
of God. In the time of Constantine there were already elab- 
orate theologies and wide differences between one sect and 
another. The chief controversy was that between two Church 
officials of Egypt — Ath-an-a'si-us and A-ri'us — concerning 
the nature of Christ (§ 161). Although both admitted that 
He was the son of God, Arius maintained that the Son was by 
nature inferior to the Father. Athanasius, on the other hand, 
asserted absolute equality between the Son and the Father. 

165. The Council of Nicaea (325 a.d.). — In order to 
strengthen the Church by securing uniformity of belief on this 
as well as on other points, Constantine called a council of 
bishops from all parts of the world to meet at Ni-cae'a, a city 
in northwestern Asia Minor, to settle the disputes and to de- 
cide upon a creed which all should accept. By adopting the 
view of Athanasius the council made it orthodox, whereas that 
of his opponent became a heresy. The West readily accepted 
the Nicene Creed, as this decision is called ; and in this manner 
it has come down to the Roman Catholic church and to most 
of the Protestant denominations of to-day ; but Arianism con- 
tinued widespread in the East and among the Germans. The 
council of Nicaea was the first gathering which professed to 
represent the entire Christian world. The institution of such 
a general council, to meet as occasion demanded, added greatly 
to the power of the Church in its conflict with paganism. 

166. Monasteries. — In their effort to attain to a life of 
holiness some Christians thought it necessary to separate them- 
selves from the world. In the East such persons often lived 
as hermits alone in the desert. Sometimes, however, a number 
of them formed a community, living together in a large build- 
ing and possessing land and all other property in common. 
Men of the kind were monks, and their community was a 
monastery. Women who adopted the same form of life were 
called nuns, and their institution was a nunnery or convent. 
At the head of a monastery was an abbot, whereas a convent 
was governed by an abbess. 

The great organizer of monasteries in western Europe was 



i6o 



Christianity 




St. Benedict, who lived early in the sixth century. He laid 
down for the monks the rules of poverty, chastity, and obe- 
dience. Although the society to which they belonged might 
acquire great wealth, the individual members had to remain 
poor. They were required also to remain unmarried and to 

submit unreservedly 
to the will of their 
superiors in the 
Church. Members 
of the order were ex- 
pected not only to 
pray and read but also 
to labor on the 
common estate. 
Many monasteries of 
the Benedictine order 
were established 
throughout western 
Europe. While 
affording a refuge 
from the barbarism of the age, the institution preserved 
the little learning which remained in the West, taught by 
example the dignity of labor, and held up a standard of 
moral and religious life far superior to that of the outside world. 
167. The Beginnings of the Papacy. — The difference in 
civilization between the East and the West exercised a profound 
influence on Christianity. In the East there continued to be 
much free thought and discussion in the Greek spirit, whereas 
in the West people felt more deeply the influence of law im- 
pressed upon them by Rome. Their doctrine, as it came to 
differ from that of the East, was less subtle but more simple, 
systematic, and reasonable. They taught that God had aided 
the growth of the empire as a preparation for Christianity, and 
that on this political basis should be founded a spiritual empire 
which in time should embrace the whole world. To them it 
seemed natural that Rome should be the centre of this universal 
Christian empire, because it had so long been the political centre 



SS&i^^.'k'i*- 



St. Jerome Chastising the Lion 

St. Jerome is a hermit who lives in a cave in the 
wilderness. He is so holy that the Hon obeys him. 
When necessary the hermit disciplines the lion by 
beating him with a stone. Painting of the sixteenth 
century, Louvre. 



The Papacy 



161 



of the world, and because of the origin of the Christian organiza- 
tion of that city : St. Paul and St. Peter had founded it and St. 
Peter was its first bishop. This idea brought the Roman 
bishop especial reverence; for it was understood that Christ 
had appointed St. Peter to be head 
of the Church, on one occasion declar- 
ing to him : — 

" And I say unto thee, That thou art 
Peter, and upon this rock 1 1 will build my 
church; and the gates of hell shall not 
prevail against it. And I will give unto 
thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven : and 
whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall 
be bound in heaven : and whatsoever thou 
shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in 
heaven." — Matt. xvi. 18 f. 

The idea was that as the successors of 
Peter the bishops, or popes, of Rome 
also held the headship, and that they 
were better able than any others to 
teach the religion in its purity. The 
growth of the papal power was also 
favored by the general dissolution of 
the West, which left the people with- 
out governments competent to protect 
them. In the collapse of the civil 
power and the confusion and violence 
of the German invasions and settle- 
ments, the people looked to the Church officials as their only 
protectors. The papal office owed its greatness further to its 
activity in sending out missionaries to convert pagans and 
heretics and its willingness to accept the latter on recanting 
their errors, and lastly to the ability and wisdom of several 
early popes. 

168. Gregory the Great (590-604). — Among those who 
helped most to increase the authority of the office was Greg- 

1 Reference here is to the circumstance that the word Peter means rock. 




A Benedictine Abbot 

In his official chair. He 
wears over his tunic a long, 
hooded mantle. The crozier 
in his hand symbolizes his 
pastoral duty. From 'Album 
historique.' 



1 62 Christianity 

ory the Great. On his accession he found his position beset 
with difficulties. A few years earlier the Lombards had in- 
vaded Italy (§ 157), and were still trying to conquer the coun- 
try. Everywhere outside of Rome was confusion and violence, 
while within a deadly pest was raging. Gregory resisted the 
conquest with such energy that the invaders had to limit them- 
selves to certain parts of the peninsula, especially to a district 
of the north, afterward known as Lombardy. Nearly every- 
where else the great nobles were practically independent and 
always at war with one another. There was no civil authority 
strong enough to establish unity and peace. The only power 
that made for order, law, and the protection of the weak was 
that of the pope. Gregory, accordingly, acted not simply as 
a spiritual leader but as a governor, who aimed to give the 
Italians all the protection and justice possible under the unfor- 
tunate conditions. The office he held had already acquired 
many great estates throughout Italy and Sicily, the revenues 
from which enabled him to support considerable civil and mili- 
tary power. This power, which we call worldly or temporal in 
contrast with spiritual, had for some time been growing, and 
was now greatly strengthened by Gregory in the way here 
described. 

Gregory did not limit his activity to Italy. The rulers and 
bishops of western Europe consulted him by letter on their 
own affairs, and his wise, helpful advice increased their rever- 
ence for the papal office. Himself a monk (§ 166), Gregory 
encouraged the growth of that class of the clergy. Some of 
them he sent as missionaries to Britain. The Angles and Saxons 
who had conquered this country (§ 157) were pagans. Some 
had already been converted by missionaries from Ireland, and 
now the work of Christianizing the island was carried on vigor- 
ously from Rome. In the end Roman influence prevailed, and 
Britain entered the brotherhood of Catholic nations. 

In Gregory's time, and partly through him, the Roman 
Catholic church became a powerful, independent organization. 
Only by taking upon itself this character could it accomplish 
the work at which it aimed. That work was to save for better 



Studies 163 

times from the wreck of ancient civilization the Christian re- 
ligion, some learning, some of the ideas and habits of industry 
and of order and obedience to authority. 

Topics for Reading 

I. Christianity Under the Pagan Emperors. — Botsford, Story of 
Rome, 294 f. ; Source-Book of Ancient History, ch. xli ; Ayer, Source- 
Book for Ancient Church History, 3-271 ; Carter, Religious Life of 
Ancient Rome, ch. iii ; Glover, Conflict of Religions in the Roman Em- 
pire, see Contents ; Duruy, History of Rome, V. ch. lxxxvii, § 6 (early 
Christianity) ; VI. ch. xc (beginning of the third century). 

II. Christianity Accepted by Constantine. — Botsford, Source- 
Book, 532-6; Ayer, Source-Book, 281-315; Carter, ch. iv; Jones, 
Roman Empire, 362-96; Duruy, VII. chs. ci, cii; Firth, Constantine, see 
Contents. v 

Review 

1. What was the origin of Christianity? Describe the character 
and work of Jesus. What are the Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, and 
the Epistles? 2. Describe the missionary work of the apostles. What 
were their principal teachings? 3. How did the imperial government 
at first regard the Christians? What change afterward took place in its 
attitude? What were the causes of the persecutions? 4. Describe 
the organization of the Church. How did it gradually develop a mo- 
narchical government? 5. In what way did Christianity become an 
official religion? Why did the Church divide into sects? Distinguish 
between the two greatest sects. 6. What was the Council of Nicasa? 
What did it accomplish? 7. How did monasteries arise? Who was 
St. Benedict? Describe the life of the monks. What was their service 
to civilization? 8. Define papacy, and explain its origin. By what 
means did the power of the pope become great? 9. Who was Gregory 
the Great? What were his aims and achievements? How did he 
aid the growth of the Church's power? What benefits came from this 
power? 

Additional Studies 

1. In what book or books can we best study the origin and early 
history of Christianity? 2. Why had the Christians less religious 
tolerance than the Romans? Were the Christians blameworthy in 
this respect, or the contrary? 3. In what ways did the Christians 
violate Roman law and long-established custom? Were they right in 
so doing? 4. To what social class did Christianity especially appeal? 
Why was this so? Does the same principle hold for India and China 



164 Christianity 

to-day? 5. Why did the pagans dislike the Christians? Did they 
have any good reason for this feeling? 6. How did the persecutions 
affect Christianity, and why? 7. What advantage was the monastery 
to industry and intelligence? 8. How did Rome come to be the seat 
of government of the Church? 9. Who were St. Peter and St. Paul? 
10. Read the Acts of the Apostles, and write from it a brief history of the 
early Church, n. Write a syllabus of this chapter like that on p. 144. 
Read Botsford, Source-Book, ch. xlv, and answer the questions at the 
close of the chapter. 12. Write an essay on one of the Reading Topics. 



BOOK II 
THE MIDDLE AGES 

CHAPTER XIII 

THE FRANKISH KINGDOM AND THE EMPIRE OF 
CHARLEMAGNE 

486-814 

169. From Ancient to Mediaeval History. — Notwithstand- 
ing the chaos wrought within the Roman empire by the bar- 
barians, ancient civilization never wholly died out; and on 
the other hand, mediaeval life developed so gradually as to 
make it impossible to draw a clear dividing line between the 
two great periods. When, however, we come to the empire of 
Charlemagne, founded in 800, we are undoubtedly across the 
boundary. The civilization of the Middle Ages was not a 
thing entirely different from that of the late Roman empire; 
it was only a survival from Roman times, modified more or less 
by new conditions. 

170. The Franks. — The main events which led to the for- 
mation of Charlemagne's empire deserve mention. The Goths, 
Burgundians, and Lombards, who had accepted Christianity 
before their invasion, were Arians (§ 156), whereas the Franks 
had come into the empire as pagans. Clovis, their king (486- 
511), was converted, as it chanced, to the Roman Catholic 
faith, and his example was followed by his people. This event 
had far-reaching results. His ambition to build up a great 
kingdom for himself by conquering the heretic West Goths and 
Burgundians received the hearty support of the Catholic Church 

165 



i66 



The Franks 



and of the natives of Gaul, who belonged to the latter faith. 
With this help, added to his own ability, Clovis united Gaul in 
one Frankish nation. His success insured the triumph of 
Catholicism throughout the West. After his death came a 
long period of discord among the Franks, 
who were finally reunited in one state 
under Charles Martel (the "Hammer"). 
At this time the Frankish kings, descen- 
dants of Clovis, had come to be mere 
" do-nothings." Charles, the real ruler, 
was Mayor of the Palace, a high court 
official. A man of extraordinary ability, 
Charles came to power in time to meet a 
great crisis in the history of Europe — the 
invasion of the Mo-ham'me-dans. 

171. The Mohammedans. — The Mo- 
hammedans were followers of Mo-ham'- 
med, who was born about 571 in Mecca, 
the holy city of Arabia. Before his time 
the tribes of that country worshipped 
idols, fought endlessly with one another, 
and counted for nothing in the history of 
the world. Mohammed presented himself 
to them as the prophet of the one God. 
With a wonderful personality and with a 
deep knowledge of the religious and moral 
shoes, fastened by thongs nee d s f \y{ s people, he spoke and taught 

around his legs. His hair . . , TT . 

falls below his waist in as one inspired. His sayings were written 
heavy braids. He is armed down by his followers, and after his death 

stss ssja «*•«*«» in a book caM the K °' ran -. li 

a helmet. Restoration in was to his people what the Bible IS to 

the Museum of Artillery, Christians. It taught the unity and al- 
mighty power of God, the torments of hell, 
and the pleasures of heaven ; and it prescribed rules of life for 
the faithful. As his followers increased, he ordered that their 
religion should be forced upon unbelievers. Before his death 
he had the satisfaction of seeing all Arabia free from idolatry 




A Frankish Chief 

He wears a tunic nearly 
reaching the knee, a fur 
vest, a mantle fastened at 
the breast and thrown back 
over the shoulders, and low 



The Mohammedans 



167 



and united in zeal for Islam, as the new faith was called. Under 
his successors — the Caliphs — the army of believers soon 
spread their religion over Persia and farther eastward and north- 
eastward in Asia. But when they tried to conquer the Roman 
empire in the East, the walls of Constantinople withstood them. 
On the south shore of the Mediterranean, however, they met 
with little resistance. They conquered Egypt, and in the course 
of the seventh century the entire African coast to the strait 
of Gib-ral'tar. Fierce 
religious enthusiasm 
swept them impa- 
tiently on. 

172. Their Conflict 
with Christianity. — 
Early in the eighth 
century they crossed 
into Spain and readily 
overran the whole 
country. A great cri- 
sis in the history of 
the world had come, 
a conflict between two 
religions and two con- 
tinents. It was of the 
utmost importance 
that Europe should 
not be forced to accept 
the faith of Mohammed and become a dependency of Asia 
or Africa, but should be free to work out its own destiny 
in its own way. This question was decided on the battlefield 
of Poitiers (pwa-te-a/), 732, where Charles at the head of the 
Franks overwhelmingly defeated an army of Mohammedan 
invaders from Spain. 

173. Alliance between the Frankish King and the Pope. — 
This victory for Christianity gave Charles great prestige. His 
son Pippin was made king of the Franks in place of the effemi- 
nate heir of the family of Clovis. In the ceremonies attending 




A Saracen Army on the March 
From an Arabic MS. of the thirteenth century. 



i68 



Charlemagne 



the coronation the pope took the important part of anointing 
Pippin with holy oil according to Biblical usage. This event 
gave the king a sacred character, so that henceforth obedience 
to him was a sacred duty. On the precedent thus established the 
pope began to claim a share in the making of kings and emperors. 




A Frankish Villa 

Patterned after a villa of the late empire. It is fortified by a palisade, and the 
buildings are mainly of wood. It contains a large open court surrounded by a 
portico, into which open two long low dwellings. The square tower is for dwelling 
and defence. There are also barns, stables, fruit trees, and flower beds. From 
Ammann, 'Histoire de l'habitation humaine.' 



The close alliance thus forming between the Frankish king 
and the papal office led him to interfere in the affairs of Italy. 
On this occasion he seized a considerable territory belonging to 
the emperor at Constantinople, and transferred it to the pope. 
These lands, henceforth known as the States of the Church, 
grew in extent through later acquisitions. It was as their 
ruler that the pope became a great temporal prince. 

174. Charlemagne (768-814). — The son and successor of 
Pippin was Charles the Great, or as he is more commonly 



The Franks and the Pope 169 

called, Char-le-magne. 1 He is described by his secretary 2 as 
" large and robust, of commanding stature and excellent pro- 
portions, for it appears that he measured seven times the length 
of his own foot. The top of his head was round, his eyes were 
large and animated, and his nose was somewhat long. He had 
a fine head of gray hair, and his face was bright and pleasant ; 
so that whether standing or sitting, he showed great presence 
and dignity." Majestic in form and tireless in action, a great 
general and a beneficent statesman, he left an enduring impres- 
sion of himself upon all western Europe. 

Most of his long reign he occupied in conquests and in put- 
ting down revolts. The kingdom of the Franks had grown 
greatly since the time of Clovis, and Charlemagne doubled the 
territory inherited from his father. Most of his conquests were 
east of the Rhine and in northern Italy ; but in every direction 
on land he extended the boundaries of his realm. 

175. The Pope Crowns him Emperor, 800. — He was simply 
king till 800. The title of emperor was used by the ruler at 
Constantinople, who was now held in little esteem throughout 
the West. No subject of Charlemagne could doubt that their 
king was far more deserving of the title, and he himself seems 
to have desired it. On Christmas, 800, accordingly, while he 
was kneeling at prayer in St. Peter's, Rome, the pope approached, 
and placed the imperial crown upon his head, whereupon all the 
Roman populace cried aloud, " Long life and victory to the 
mighty Charles, the great and pacific Emperor of the Romans, 
crowned of God ! " After he had been thus acclaimed, the pope 
did homage to him, as had been the custom with the earlier 
rulers, and henceforth he was called emperor and Augustus. 3 
By this act the pope further strengthened his claim to a share 
in the appointment of temporal rulers. 

176. The Christian Empire Realized. — From the third to 
the fifth century there had regularly been two emperors ruling 

1 Charlemagne is the French for Car'o-lus Mag'nus, the Latin equivalent of 
Charles the Great. It must be borne in mind, however, that he was not French, but 
German, in speech. 

2 Einhard, Life of Charlemagne, quoted by Robinson, Readings, I. 126. 

3 Ibid., 134. 



170 Charlemagne 

simultaneously in the East and West — a condition now re- 
newed. Charlemagne regarded himself accordingly as a suc- 
cessor of Augustus and Constantine. Like the emperors since 
Constantine he was a Christian, head of the Church and defender 
of the faith. Unlike them, however, he was a German and he 
ruled an empire which was more than half German. He com- 
pleted the task, begun by earlier Frankish kings, of reconciling 
the Germans to the empire and its institutions and religion. 
Within the limits of the old Roman domain the two races had 
blended into one. Lastly it must be noticed that his empire 
once more presented to the world the idea of all Christendom 
united in one church and state, and went far toward the reali- 
zation of that idea. 

177. Imperial Organization ; Feudalism Checked. — In build- 
ing a state it is necessary not only to conquer but to organize. 
In the late Roman empire, the principal civil officer in Gaul 
had come to be the count. 1 The district under his rule was a 
county. Charlemagne's empire, too, included many such 
counties. The bishops and abbots were independent of the 
counts (§§ 163, 166). There were a few dukes, who ruled duchies 
— larger districts comprising several counties. The duke was 
therefore more powerful than the count, and often more trouble- 
some to his sovereign. These various officers kept order and 
administered justice in their districts. 

As the Frankish rulers lacked money with which to pay 
their officials, they had usually bestowed the title of count on a 
great proprietor in the county, and as a reward for his service 
had given him some of the public land. Although he held the 
land and office at the pleasure- of his sovereign, he strove to 
retain them for life and hand them down to his heirs ; and in 
spite of the fact that his duty was to represent the king, too 
often he worked simply for his own advantage in opposition 
to his sovereign's interest. Because of the difficulty of travel 
in those days the king often found it impossible even to learn 

1 From the Latin co'mes, "companion," who was at first merely an assistant of 
the magistrate. The district under his rule was termed pa'gus, which we may trans- 
late "county." 



Imperial Institutions 



171 



of the disloyalty of the counts till their power became too great 
for him to control. The excessive strengthening of local magis- 
trates at the expense of a king or emperor was an element of 
feudalism (§ 181). 

Charlemagne could not wholly change the system of govern- 
ment ; but he did compel rebellious counts to submit, and for 
the future he devised a means of controlling 
them. He began the custom of sending out 
regularly deputies to various parts of ( his 
empire. They usually went in pairs, a count 
and a bishop or abbot, that they might check 
one another. Their work was to see that 
the local magistrates were attending effi- 
ciently to their duties in the loyal service 
of the emperor, and that justice, religion, and 
education were everywhere properly cared 
for. They had power to try and punish 
wrong-doers, and were required to make a 
full report to the emperor on the condition 
of affairs in the territory to which they 
were sent. 

178. Assemblies and Councils. — Once 
or twice each year he held a general assem- 
bly of his people. The gathering in the 
month of May was called Mayfield. Not 
only the counts, bishops, and abbots but 
even the common freemen had the privilege 
of attending. It was a continuation of the 
old German assembly mentioned in an 
earlier chapter (§ 155). If the subject of a 
new war was to be brought up, the fighting 
men were required to come armed so as to begin the campaign 
immediately after the adjournment of the meeting. Such assem- 
blies also discussed questions relating to religion and the Church. 
In that case they were composed mainly or wholly of clergy- 
men, and may therefore be termed councils. But Charlemagne 
always presided. 




Priest 

Ninth century. From 
the fifth century the 
common people began 
to change their costume 
from the Roman, 
whereas the clergy re- 
tained it. From ' Album 
historique.' 



172 Charlemagne 

As many of the clergy had become too independent because 
of the looseness of the Church organization, Charlemagne saw 
that every parish priest should be subject to a neighboring 
bishop, and every bishop to an archbishop. The abbots he left 
outside this organization, probably that he might use them as 
a check on the bishops. 

179. He Encourages Education. — Through the late cen- 
turies of the Roman empire learning had greatly declined, and 
in western Europe had almost ceased. None but the clergy 
enjoyed any education, and even they as a class were ignorant. 
Many a priest understood not a word of the Latin services he 
had to repeat. Most of the Greek or Latin classics were de- 
stroyed or lost ; scarcely any new books were written ; and the 
few old ones in use were mainly religious rather than literary or 
scientific. 

Under the late Frankish kings, however, some improvement 
had been made; and now Charlemagne undertook to revive 
learning. He had what would then be called a good education, 
as he possessed some knowledge of Greek and could speak 
Latin. With great earnestness, he devoted himself to astronomy 
and rhetoric. He not only set a good example to others, but 
founded schools and encouraged his bishops and abbots to do 
likewise, that the clergy might have a respectable education 
and that the children of common freemen and even of the serfs 
might learn to read. All the books were Latin, for Charle- 
magne dared not favor the growth of a native German literature. 
The issue was clearly before his mind : Germanism meant idola- 
try, barbarism, disunion, and chaos ; Romanism meant Chris- 
tianity, civilization, and good order under a strong central 
government. Other German statesmen had chosen the latter; 
and Charlemagne in spite of his native sympathy could not 
hesitate to follow the same course. In like manner his atten- 
tion to the building and ornamentation of churches encouraged 
architecture and the decorative arts. From these beginnings 
western Europe would doubtless at once have entered upon a 
new era of progress in the arts and sciences had his empire re- 
mained intact. 



Education, Decline 



173 



180. Dissolution of his Empire. — Under his weak sons and 
grandsons, however, dissolution set in. From the confusion 
and strife which filled the rest of the ninth century gradually- 
emerged two weak kingdoms which corresponded roughly to 
modern France and Germany. For convenience we shall 
henceforth use these names. In the former, the Latin language, 
gradually changing to French, prevailed ; in the latter, the Ger- 
man. Each had a king, 
who enjoyed little else but 
his title ; for the real politi- 
cal power was now in the 
hands of the barons — that 
is, the dukes, counts, 
bishops, and abbots. The 
king in Germany had also 
the title of Emperor, and 
aspired to rule over Italy. 
Here, too, his pretences 




Norman (Northman) Ship 



Restored from miniatures of the tenth and 
were vain, for that peninsula eleventh centuries. Museum of Antiquities, 
„ , , , , , Stockholm. 

actually belonged to a mul- 
titude of independent little nobles, and even the papal office 
was sinking into weakness and contempt. At the same time 
bands of fierce Northmen from Scandinavia were invading 
France and desolating Britain, now England. There were as 
yet in western Europe no states in the modern sense of the 
word. Protection to life and property had to come from other 
sources. 

Topics for Reading 

I. Charlemagne the Man. — Botsford, Source-Book of Ancient 
History, 579-81; Robinson, Readings, I. 126-8; Ogg, Source-Book of 
Medieval History, 108-14; Davis, Charlemagne, see Index under " Charles 
the Great " ; Mombert, Charles the Great, bk. iii. ch. vi. 

II. Education in Charlemagne's Time. — Botsford, Source-Book, 
581 f . ; Robinson, Readings, I. 144-6; Davis, Charlemagne, 168 ff . ; 
Rashdall, Universities of Europe in the Middle Ages, 1. 26-30; Mombert, 
Charles the Great, bk. ii. ch. ix. 



174 Charlemagne 

Review 

i. Describe the transition from ancient to mediaeval history. 2. 
Sketch the growth of the Frankish kingdom. Who were the " do- 
nothing " kings? Who was Charles Martel? 3. Explain the origin 
and character of Mohammedanism. Over what territory did it expand ? 
Explain Koran; caliph; Islam. 4. Describe the conflict of religions in 
Spain; in France. For what is the battle of Poitiers noted? 5. What 
especial causes brought the Frankish king and the pope into close rela- 
tions, and what was the' outcome? Define States of the Church. 
6. Describe the personal appearance of Charlemagne. What were his 
conquests ? 7. How did he become emperor? 8. What was the 
Christian empire, and how nearly was it realized? 9. Explain count; 
duke. What were their functions? their personal ambitions? How 
did Charlemagne check them? 10. Describe his assemblies and 
councils. What was the position of a bishop? of an abbot? How did 
Charlemagne organize the clergy? 11. What was the condition of 
education in his time? How did he improve it? Why did he prefer 
the Latin language and literature? 12. Why did his empire fall in 
pieces after his death? 

Additional Studies 

1. When do the Middle Ages begin? Is it possible to set an exact 
date? 2. Explain the difference between Arians and Roman Catholics. 
3. Is it right to call Mohammed an imposter? 4. What benefits did 
Islam bring to the people of Arabia? 5. Why were the Mohammedans 
so successful in war? 6. Why did not Charles Martel himself become 
king of the Franks? 7. What right had the emperor at Constantinople 
to territory in Italy? 8. Is there any reason why Charlemagne should 
not want to be crowned emperor by the pope? 9. Why was Charle- 
magne called " emperor of the Romans" ? In what respects was his 
empire Roman? 10. Make a syllabus, or table, of the magistrates of 
the empire under Charlemagne, showing their relations to one another. 
11. Why had education declined before Charlemagne? When did. the 
decline begin? 12. Compare the decline of Charlemagne's empire with 
that of the old Roman empire. 13. Read Botsford, Source-Book, ch. 
xlvi, and answer the questions at the close of the chapter. 14. Write a 
syllabus of this chapter like the one on p. 144. 



CHAPTER XIV 

FEUDALISM 

181. Growth of Feudalism. — One reason why the successors 
of Charlemagne failed to control the dukes and counts was the 
lack of good roads. The famous highways which the Romans 
had built through Italy and the West had not been repaired 
for ages ; long stretches had become impassable. On the Ger- 
man side of the Rhine were no roads at all. Because of the 
difficulty of travelling, the king heard but slowly of the rebellions 
of his barons, and he could not easily send troops to check re- 
volts. This lack of good roads prevented the various counties 
from combining and even from trading with one another. 
Another source of weakness was the want of money, which had 
.continued from the late Roman empire (§ 147) . Without money 
the king could not support the officials necessary for the good 
government of a large realm, or an army for the protection of 
his country from foreign enemies and from domestic strife and 
rebellion. The same lack of money nearly put a stop to trade. 

Because of the weakness of the central government each 
baron had to protect and to govern his own district ; and owing 
to the lack of commerce each duchy or county had to produce 
nearly all the food, clothing, furniture, tools, and weapons 
which it used. Each county and duchy became, therefore, for 
most purposes an independent state, cut off from the rest of the 
world and paying little attention to the king or emperor. 

182. Fresh Attacks of Barbarians. — The task of protection 
grew extremely difficult for the border counts ; for barbarians 
began to assail the countries of the West on nearly all sides, just 
as in ages past barbarians had attacked the old Roman empire. 

175 



176 



Feudalism 



In this period fierce sea-rovers from Scandinavia were burning 
and plundering along all the coasts and ravaging the country 
many miles inland (§ 192), while on the East the Slavs and Huns, 
and on the South the Mohammedans, continued their attacks. 

In these troublous 
times even the interior 
dukes and counts failed 
to give their people all 
the protection needed. 
Men who were thus left 
defenceless turned to 
any neighbor who 
seemed powerful 
enough to furnish aid. 
In this way any man 
with ability and taste 
for war and command, 
with sufficient wealth 
for building a castle, 
became the protector 
and governor of his 
neighborhood. The 

emperor, kings, dukes, 
and counts, as well as 
lesser lords had their 
castles. Over all the 
West these fortresses 
arose to protect the 
neighborhood from 
barbarous invaders, 
and just as often to 
make it independent of 
the king, duke, or count. 
183. Lords, Tenants, and Serfs. — In return for protection 
the lord of the castle made certain demands on those whom he 
protected. In the first place he required all freeholders to 
surrender their lands to him and become his tenants. In 




A Donjon 

The Donjon, English 'Keep,' was the strongest 
tower of the castle, usually isolated from the other 
buildings, and often containing the prison, hence 
the word dungeon. This is a restoration of the 
keep of the Chateau-Gaillard built by Richard 
the Lion-Hearted. From Viollet-le-Duc, 'Dic- 
tionnaire de l'architecture francaise.' 



Lords and Vassals 177 

making this arrangement the lord was simply following a custom 
which had continued from the late Roman empire (§ 153). 
In the period of violence following Charlemagne the small 
proprietors gladly became tenants rather than lose both their 
property and their lives. Some lords, especially the dukes and 
the counts, had more land than their serfs could cultivate. The 
surplus therefore they parcelled out among their tenants. As 
explained above (§ 152), serfs were bound to the soil, and were 
bought and sold with it, whereas the tenants were freemen. In 
time the small proprietors wholly disappeared and only lords, 
tenants, and serfs remained. The churches and monasteries 
had received as gifts from kings and barons large tracts of land, 
which they now distributed among tenants. In this case the 
management of the land and the duty of protection fell upon 
the bishops and abbots. A grant to a tenant was called a 
benefice. The lord required all his tenants to take an oath of 
loyalty to himself. For this purpose he made use of the custom 
of commendation, which had grown up during the decline of 
the Roman empire (§ 153). Those who needed protection 
placed themselves under the care of a lord, swearing at the same 
time to be faithful to him. We have seen, too, that among the 
Germans before the invasions there was a similar custom (§ 155). 
As the subjects of Charlemagne and of his successors had long 
been used to the idea of loyalty to a strong leader, they readily 
took the oath of fidelity to any neighbor who was willing and 
able to protect their lives — that is, they became his vassals. 
This word accordingly applies to a class of free tenants who 
voluntarily entered into the obligations described in the follow- 
ing paragraph. 

184. Obligations of Vassals ; the Fief. — The vassals owed 
certain duties to their lord. They were obliged, if called on, 
to serve him in war a fixed number of days each year, usually 
not above forty. They had also to make contributions for the 
ransom of the lord or his eldest son when taken captive, for 
the knighting of his eldest son, and for the marriage of his 
eldest daughter. These contributions were called aids. When 
a vassal died, his son on inheriting the benefice had to make to 



178 



Feudalism 



the lord a payment, termed relief, which often amounted to an 
entire year's income. There were many other minor obligations. 
Originally the benefice and the commendation were totally 
distinct customs; but in time they became inseparably con- 
nected, so that the benefice was granted to those only who, on 
receiving it, were willing to commend themselves to the giver. 
The land granted, whether of great or small extent, was called 
a fief (Latin feudum).- The process of granting it was called 
infeudation, and the ceremony was homage (from Latin homo, 
man) . The receiver knelt with bent head before the giver, and 

placing his hands between 
those of the giver, promised 
to become his ' ' man. ' ' The 
giver kissed the receiver, 
raised him up, and accepted 
his vow of fidelity. By this 
ceremony the two persons 
entered into relations of 
lord and vassal. The 
growth of the system was 
greatly aided by the custom 
of immunity. To win the 
favor of a vassal the king 
granted him immunity — 
freedom — from the visits 
of the royal officials either 
for the collection of taxes or for the settlement of disputes at 
law on the vassal's estate. Every ambitious vassal, whether 
duke, count, bishop, or abbot, sought such an exemption, and 
often violently usurped it; for it made him an independent 
ruler over the estate which he held, and over his own vassals 
and serfs. It tended therefore to weaken the king and to break 
up the kingdom into a multitude of petty states. 

Though at first vassals held their fiefs for as long only as the 
lord willed, they strove to keep them during life, and to hand 
them down to their children. The lords were unwilling that 
their lands should slip wholly from their hands, and for that 




Charlemagne as a Feudal Lord 

A noble is kneeling before him and taking 
the oath of fidelity. From a miniature of the 
fourteenth century in the Library of the 
Arsenal, Paris. 



The Fief ; the Completed System 



179 



reason tried to prevent their property from remaining per- 
manently in any one family. They were obliged in the end to 
yield; and before the close of the tenth century the fief had 
become hereditary. 

185. The Lords become Vassals. — The lord, whether weak 
or powerful, could not hope to keep himself wholly independent. 
Near him were other lords, some of whom might be stronger 
than he. For the sake of peace 
and protection he was willing 
to give up to a greater lord his 
castle with all the land under 
his control, and receive it back 
as a fief. By this process all 
lords became vassals of other 
lords or of the king. Many 
great nobles, especially in 
France, long maintained their 
independence against the king. 
It was but slowly and with 
much fighting that he compelled 
them to do homage to him. 
Under the conditions of the 
time feudalism could not be 
avoided. As there was no 
money with which to support 
soldiers or to pay for other 
service, and as land was almost 
the only productive property, 




A Knight 

Mounted and in full armor. From 
Kleinpaul's 'Mittelalter.' 



those who desired the service of others had to grant the use of 
land in exchange for it. By an extension of the same principle 
offices, tolls, and other privileges were made into fiefs and let 
out on feudal terms. 

186. The Completed System ; its Complexity and Confusion. 
— In time most of the land came to be held by feudal tenure 
and the government became thoroughly feudal. In theory the 
king owned all the land of the realm, and ruled over the tenants- 
in-chief — vassals who held their land directly of him, including 



180 Feudalism 

dukes, counts, bishops, abbots, and some simple knights. Each 
tenant-in-chief, above the simple knight, had his vassals who 
held their land of him and over whom he ruled. Thus there 
were several grades of lordship and vassalage, the lowest being 
that of the simple knights, who were themselves vassals but not 
lords. The lords and vassals devoted themselves to govern- 
ment and war, while the serfs, with a few common people who 
remained free, did all the manual work. 

The feudal system here outlined was very intricate. A duke 
might be the vassal of another duke or count. The clerical 
lords (bishops and abbots) might be vassals or lords of the lay 
barons (dukes and counts) ; the same person might hold fiefs 
of several lords. The king might be a vassal of another king, 
of the pope, or even of one of his own subjects. The complexity 
and confusion of the system, added to the treacherous, self- 
seeking character of the nobles of every rank, caused endless 
wars. The vassals were continually fighting among themselves 
or rebelling against their lords, and no one had the power to 
enforce peace upon these faithless, turbulent, fighting nobles. 
Though in the centuries following Charlemagne it saved society 
from complete dissolution, feudalism was itself but a step re- 
moved from anarchy. 

Topics for Reading 

I. Chivalry. — Munro and Sellery, Mediaval Civilization, 240-7 ; 
Gautier, L., Chivalry, especially chs. v-xi. 

II. Ceremony of Homage. — Robinson, Readings, I. 179-83; Ogg, 
Source-Book, 216-9. 

III. Life in the Castle. — Lacroix, P., Manners, Customs, and Dress 
during the Middle Ages, etc., 56-104. 

IV. Food and Cookery. — Lacroix, 105-77. 

Review 

1. What was the condition of the roads after Charlemagne? What 
was the relative amount of money in circulation? What effects had 
these two facts upon commerce? upon political conditions? 2. De- 
scribe the continued barbarian attacks. Why could not the king protect 
his people? Who gave protection, and in what way? 3. Explain 
lords ; tenants ; serfs ; and their relation to one another. How did 



Studies 



iSi 



freeholders become tenants? Define benefice; commendation. 

4. What were vassals? What were their obligations to their lords? 

5. By what ceremony did a person become a vassal? Explain fief; 
immunity. 6. How did lords become vassals? 7. Describe the com- 
pleted feudal system. What were its defects? What service did it 
perform ? 

Additional Studies 

1. Why did not the Romans of the late empire keep their roads in 
repair? 2. Who were the barons? Find the explanation in an earlier 
chapter. 3. What was the difference between a duke and a count 
(earlier ch.) ? 4. When did the Mohammedans begin their attacks 
(earlier ch.) ? 5. Explain the rise of serfdom in the late Roman empire 
(earlier ch.). 6. Explain the derivation of benefice. 7. What Ger- 
man custom was somewhat like " commendation? " Describe the 
former (earlier ch.). 8. What was the chief cause of feudalism ? What 
were minor causes? ' 9. Give a precise definition of feudalism. 10. 
Can you find feudalism in any other period of history than the Middle 
Ages? For an answer to this question consult some work on ancient 
Egypt, for instance, or on Japan, n. Write a syllabus of this chapter 
like that on p. 144. 



CHAPTER XV 

THE PAPACY AND THE NEW STATES 

I. The Supremacy of the Pope 

187. The Christian Church under Gregory VII (1073-1080). 
— In the confusion and violence of the Middle Ages, when civil 
rulers were unable to protect their subjects, the Christian Church 
alone was strong. It had declined in the period immediately 
following Charlemagne, but had recovered; and under Pope 
Gregory VII it became more powerful than it had ever been 
before. A practical man of affairs, devoid of personal ambition, 
Gregory pursued unerringly one aim — the supremacy of the 
pope over all other powers in Christian Europe. To this end 
he directed all the resources which his genius could discover 
in the conditions of the time. Circumstances were favorable 
to him. Feudalism had weakened the kings. He could count 
on the rebellious spirit of the barons, on the rivalry between the 
lay 1 and the spiritual lords, and on the active aid of the 
monks. The States of the Church (§ 173) were his and several 
Italian duchies supported him. In defining the powers of the 
papal office he issued a declaration containing the following pro- 
visions : — 

The Roman Church was founded by God alone ; it has never made a 
mistake, and never will to all eternity. 

The Pope alone may depose bishops, reinstate them, and transfer them 
from one see to another. 

He may depose emperors and absolve subjects from allegiance to unjust 
rulers. 

1 "Lay" in this sense is derived from a Greek word meaning "people" ; persons 
property, and institutions not belonging to the clergy are thus distinguished. 

182 



Gregory 



183 



No one dare judge him or condemn a person who appeals to his court. 

No general council (for the management of Church business) may be 
called without his consent ; no one may annul his decrees, but he alone may 
annul the decrees of all. 

188. Gregory's Ideal of a Christian Empire. — If these 
words could be made good, the pope would be absolute master 
of the clergy throughout Christendom; they could neither be 
loyal to the king nor repre- 
sent the wishes of their con- 
gregations, excepting in so 
far as they were permitted 
by the omnipotent master 
at Rome. Kings and em- 
perors were to become his 
vassals. Christian Europe, 
formed into a great empire, 
would bow to one all-con- 
trolling will. Church coun- 
cils were merely to give 
advice and to aid in legis- 
lation. The pope would be 
the supreme judge and the 
one source of law. In this 
magnificent scheme Gregory 
had in mind not the mere 
exaltation of the papacy, 
and certainly not his own 
personal greatness. He 
chiefly sought the improve- 
ment of mankind. Seeing 
the lawlessness that pre- 
vailed throughout all west- 
ern Europe under the feudal system, the incessant warfare 
among the barons, the ignorance and brutality of kings — every- 
where the triumph of might over right, he naturally concluded 
that nothing but an omnipotent papacy could remedy this 
anarchy and enforce justice, mercy, and peace. 




The Pope as a Feudal Lord 

Pope Clement IV granting the crown of the 
Two Sicilies to Charles of Anjou. The docu- 
ment in the pope's right hand is called a bull 
because the pope's seal (Lat. bulla) is attached 
to it. In his left hand is the key to heaven 
and hell. By accepting the kingdom Charles 
becomes a vassal of the Pope. From a fresco 
in the tower of Pernes (Vaucluse). 



1 84 



The Papacy 



189. The Civil Rulers and the Clergy. — The emperor or 
king aimed to fill the high offices of the Church with men who 
would be faithful to him ; for he needed their aid as ministers, 
counsellors, and magistrates. The clergy alone had sufficient 
knowledge and intelligence for these positions; and as the 
Church offices were not hereditary, the king in employing a 

priest was not setting up a dangerous 
rival. He needed the help of the clergy, 
too, in his effort to check the growing 
power of the lay barons. Furthermore, 
as he was generally poor, he desired a 
part of the Church revenues for the 
support of his government and the im- 
provement of his country. He therefore 
insisted on appointing his friends to 
Church offices, and on investing them 
with the symbols of both spiritual and 
temporal power. The ceremony of 
granting these symbols is called investi- 
ture. It was lay investiture when the 
appointment was by any other than a 
Church official. The newly appointed 
officer swore allegiance to the king, and 
paid him a large share of the first year's 
income from his office. Far from look- 
ing upon these payments as bribes, the 
king felt that he was merely receiving 
a just share of the rich revenues of the 
Church. 

190. Gregory's Conflict with the Civil Rulers. — Under the 
circumstances described in the last two paragraphs it was 
inevitable that the civil rulers and the pope should come into 
conflict. Through a council of the clergy Gregory issued a 
decree absolutely forbidding lay investiture. As the transfer 
of the allegiance of the Church officials from the king to the 
pope meant the ruin of every kingdom, the decree precipitated 
a life and death struggle between Church and State. 




Emperor 

Of the Holy Roman Em- 
pire, wearing the imperial 
robes and crown. From 
Henne arn Rhyn, 'Kultur- 
geschichte des deutschen 
Volkes.' 



Conflict between Church and State 185 

Gregory's quarrel was especially bitter with the king of 
Germany, who claimed the right to appoint and depose even 
the popes. It was an additional grievance to the pope that 
this German king, whenever possible, had himself crowned 
emperor of the " Holy Roman Empire." This empire was 
little more than an idea — that all Christendom should be 
united under one emperor. The German kings tried to realize 
at least a part of the idea by conquering Italy. This ambition 
brought him into still more unpleasant relations with the pope. 

191. The Supremacy of the Church. — The conflict out- 
lasted the life of Gregory; but in the end the empire became 
a mere name and Germany fell into hopeless disunion. For 
a time the popes realized almost to the full the ideal of absolute 
power created by Gregory VII. 

It is difficult for us to appreciate the overwhelming power 
of the Church at this time. The institution was a strongly 
centralized monarchy, administered at the will of the pope by 
a well organized and highly efficient system of officials. It 
controlled not only kings and lords but every human being in 
western Christendom. Throughout life from birth to death 
every one depended upon a priest for the sacraments — bap- 
tism, confirmation, the Lord's Supper, marriage, and some 
others — which were esteemed essential to salvation. In case 
the Christian sinned, the clergyman prescribed the penance, 
such as fasting, prayer, or pilgrimage, which the sinner had to 
do before receiving pardon; and it was the priest alone who 
pronounced forgiveness. Those who refused to accept the 
orthodox faith and were therefore called heretics, were punished 
with torture and death. In those days a heretic was looked 
upon by all the orthodox with as much horror as that with 
which we now regard anarchists or perhaps even murderers. 

The Holy Inquisition was a system of courts established for 
the detection and punishment of heresy. Thousands perished 
through this institution, and whole communities were massacred 
because their belief differed more or less from the orthodox 
standard. If a man refused to obey, the pope had a right to 
excommunicate him — that is, exclude him from the Church 



1 86 Norman England 

and from salvation. No one dared associate with a person under 
such a ban or give him aid or shelter. All the terrors of earth 
and of the world beyond the grave were thus invoked to force 
obedience. For this severity we are not to blame the Church ; 
it was the ignorance and the illiberality of men in general and 
the barbaric cruelty of their nature that made these things 
possible. By the means described above, however, the Church 
effectually accomplished the task of reducing to order the chaos 
into which western Europe had fallen; but the bondage it 
now imposed was to prove excessively irksome to England 
and France. Before considering this subject, however, it is 
necessary to review briefly the history of these two countries. 

i 

II. The Normans in England 

192. Early Movements of the Northmen. — While Germany 
was falling to political ruin (§ 191), England and France were 
becoming strong states. But for a long time after the break- 
ing up of Charlemagne's empire, these two countries had fared 
badly. Hordes of Northmen poured forth from Scandinavia 
in every direction, to explore, to plunder, to plant colonies, and 
to conquer. Some of them crossed the Baltic sea and founded 
on the east coast a kingdom which in time was to expand into 
the Russian empire ; others visited Iceland, Greenland, and the 
shores of North America; others ravaged the coastlands of 
western Europe and of the Mediterranean sea. 

193. The Northmen in England and in France. — The petty 
kingdoms of Angles and Saxons in Britain (§ 157) had not yet 
been united in one state — Anglia, England — when the North- 
men began to assail that island, where they were known as 
Danes ; and after two centuries of pillaging, burning, and mur- 
dering they conquered it. For about a quarter of a century 
(1016-1042) England was ruled by the king of Scandinavia. 

Meantime a horde from the same country under the lead 
of Rolfe invaded France and secured from the king the grant 
of a large district on the lower Seine (911). Here the followers 
of Rolfe settled, and in time adopted the language and the cus- 



The Norman Conquest 187 

toms of their neighbors. These settlers came to be called Nor- 
mans (Northmen), and their country Normandy. It was a 
duchy governed by duke Rolfe and his descendants. The duke 
of Normandy acquired the lordship over the duke of Brittany, 
another Frankish country, and became in fact a powerful vassal 
of the Frankish king. The greatest lord, however, was the 
duke of Francia, which contained the populous cities of Paris 
and Orleans. In 987 Hugh Cap-et', duke of Francia and count 
of these two cities, was elected king of the Gauls, Normans, 
Bretons, and various other peoples who occupied France. As 
kings he and his early descendants had little influence and no 
real power (§ 181), and even as dukes they were for many 
years unable to control the lesser lords of Francia. 

194. The Norman Conquest of England (1066). — The barons 
of France, heedless of the king, waged wars at their pleasure. 
On his own responsibility William, duke of Normandy, con- 
quered England. Feudalism had made little progress in that 
country ; and William introduced it only so far as he thought 
necessary for securing his own control. He rewarded • with 
English fiefs the Norman lords who had aided him in the con- 
quest. They built castles on these estates and helped keep 
down rebellion. But William required all landowners to swear 
allegiance to himself, that in time of insurrection they might 
feel bound to support him rather than their feudal lords. Re- 
taining direct command of all the men fit for military duty, 
English as well as Norman, he used the natives as a check upon 
the power of his great Norman barons. A stern, exacting mas- 
ter, he aimed to be just. His strong, firm government enforced 
the laws and preserved peace, so that throughout the kingdom 
property and life were safe. 

The Norman conquest cut England loose from Scandinavia 
and connected her closely with the more progressive countries 
of southern Europe. The Normans who came with William 
to conquer and rule England, or who afterward followed to 
trade or manufacture, or to build dwellings or churches, brought 
new ideas and new energy. For more than a hundred years 
the two races existed side by side, the conquerors enjoying 



1 88 Norman England 

political, social, and economic advantages over the conquered. 
Gradually, however, daily contact, intermarriage, and common 
interests united the two races and the two languages to such an 
extent that the greatest nobles were proud to call themselves 
Englishmen. 

195. Compurgation and Ordeals. — From before the Nor- 
man conquest England had been divided into shires, correspond- 
ing to our counties, each of which comprised several " hun- 
dreds," somewhat like our townships. Each shire and hundred 
had its court for the trial of cases at law. Down to the reign of 
Henry II (n 54-1 189) the English had kept the rude ideas and 
customs of law which they had inherited from their German 
forefathers. A person accused of a crime was sometimes tried 
by the method known as compurgation. He was required to 
swear to his own innocence and to bring in addition a number 
of persons, generally his friends and neighbors, to swear that 
the oath he had taken was true. They were called compurga- 
tors with the idea that they joined in purifying him from the 
accusation. They were not witnesses, and no real evidence 
was required. The court itself fixed the number of compur- 
gators and other conditions of the trial. Another method of 
establishing one's innocence was by ordeal. In one form of 
ordeal the accused was required to carry to a certain distance a 
piece of redhot iron. His hand was then bound up, and after 
three days the covering was removed. If meantime the injury 
had healed, it was a proof of innocence. In another form the 
accused was thrown into water. In this case the rising of the 
body to the surface indicated guilt, whereas sinking was a 
proof of innocence. In place of compurgation or the ordeal 
the Normans who came to England preferred trial by battle. 
The accuser and accused, or champions selected by them, 
fought, and the victor was deemed innocent. These methods 
were used not only in crimes but also in disputes about property. 
The underlying principle was an appeal to God to protect the 
innocent. 

196. Beginning of the Jury System. — Henry II introduced 
great changes in the judicial system. He had his own court which 



English Institutions 189 

not only tried cases affecting himself and the state, but also 
strove to take upon itself much of the business of the shire and 
hundred courts. Any freeman whose title to his land was dis- 
puted could apply for protection to the king's court. There- 
upon the royal judges ordered the summoning of twelve per- 
sons, usually neighbors of the contestants and of knightly rank, 
to inquire into the matter and to declare under oath which of 
the two parties had the better right to the disputed property. 
Their decision was called a verdict — ve're die' turn, " truthfully 
stated." It is to be noted that they were at one and the same 
time witnesses and jurors. Much later, when the witnesses 
were differentiated from the jurors, the system took the form 
with which we in America are familiar. The institution here 
described is the so-called petit (petty, small) jury. At first 
it settled disputes about land, afterward about any kind of 
property. 

In like manner when the king's judges came into a shire 
to hold court, they summoned twelve men from each hundred 
in the county and four men from each manor, to declare under 
oath who in their locality were guilty of crime. This is the 
origin of the grand jury. Assuming that a person thus indicted 
was probably guilty, the judges compelled him to undergo an 
ordeal ; and even if he came out safe, and they were not wholly 
satisfied, they ordered him to abjure the realm — that is, to 
swear to leave England within a specified time, never to return. 
After many years the petit jury was substituted for the ordeal 
in the decision of criminal cases, as was already the usage in 
suits about property. The present jury system, which began 
in this way, has long been regarded by English-speaking peoples 
as necessary to the protection of their liberty. 

197. Church Courts. — There were Church courts, too, made 
up of priests only, established by William the Conqueror for the 
trial of clerks (clergymen). As they alone were educated, an 
accused person by merely showing that he could read and write 
could claim the privilege of trial before a Church court. It 
could punish by imposing a penance or fine, by ejection from 
the clergy, by imprisonment, but not by death. Through 



190 Norman England 

these courts as well as through the right of excommunication 
(§ 191) and of appeal to the pope, the clergy aimed to make the 
Church independent of the king, who on the other hand strove 
to keep all his people obedient to himself. In a hard, bitter 
struggle Henry subjected the Church courts to those of the king 
and made his own consent necessary to an excommunication or 
an appeal to the pope. . In his effort to become the all-powerful 
ruler of Christendom (§§ 187-91), the latter found an ob- 
stacle in the English king. 

198. Progress of Government in England. — Though the 
government which William established was an absolute mon- 
archy, the people gradually gained political rights at the 
expense of the king. It was not long before many towns 
acquired charters, which protected them from unjust taxes 
and allowed them self-government in local affairs. King John 
(n 99- 1 216) was so cruel and tyrannical that the barons rose 
against him, and compelled him to sign the Great Charter 
(Magna Carta), in which he agreed to levy no taxes without 
the consent of the nobles, to imprison or put to death no one 
without a trial, and to allow the Church its privileges — in 
brief to rule justly and to respect the rights of nobles and clergy. 
These classes compelled succeeding kings to sign the Charter; 
and although intended for their benefit, it came to be thought 
of as a foundation of the liberties of all. Heretofore the Great 
Council, made up of tenants-in-chief (§ 186), had occasionally 
convened merely to do honor to the king ; but under John it 
acquired a real function, as has just been stated, and thereafter 
it began to take more part in the government. Soon it came 
to be called Parliament. In 1265 for the first time not only the 
lords and bishops were invited to parliament, but also two simple 
knights from each shire and two burghers from each important 
town. In this way all owners of property gained representa- 
tion. In time the simple knights joined with the burghers 
to form the House of Commons, while the lords and bishops 
united in the House of Lords. 

199. Relations between England and France. — For a long 
time a source of weakness to both England and France lay 



The Eastern Empire 191 

in the fact that the English king had extensive possessions in 
-France and was continually striving for more. Henry II ac- 
quired by inheritance and marriage about half the French terri- 
tory. It is true that for these possessions he had to do homage 
to the king of the country, but this ceremony did not lessen his 
independence. The French kings, who were slowly gaining 
power at the expense of the barons, resisted English aggression, 
with the result that both sides wasted wealth and energy in 
fighting one another. Meanwhile England conquered Wales, but 
found it far more difficult to subdue Scotland because the latter 
received support from across the channel. Thus the enmity 
between the two countries became continually more bitter. 

III. The Crusades 

200. The Eastern or Byzantine Empire. — Meanwhile all 
western Europe was affected by the Crusades, which must 
now be described. 

While the people of the West were devoting most of their 
energy to the petty wars of kings and barons, neglecting the 
sciences and arts, without comfort or refinement, still half- 
submerged in barbarism, the Roman empire continued in the 
East. It is known to history as the By-zan'tine (or Byz'an- 
tine) empire from the earlier name of Constantinople, its capi- 
tal (§125). It had a strong central government, able to main- 
tain order and to assure the inhabitants a considerable degree 
of happiness. Here the Grgeco-Roman civilization continued 
with far less change than in the West. The fields were well 
cultivated, the homes were comfortable, and industries flourished. 
The ancient Greek and Roman classics were studied in good 
schools. The capital was the largest and wealthiest city in 
Europe. The contrast was great between the civilization of the 
East and the barbarism of the West. It is true that the em- 
perors found it difficult to protect their frontiers from the at- 
tacks of enemies. Often they were obliged to allow foreign 
peoples to settle in the empire, but this was a gain in strength. 
Territory seized by enemies they could not always recover. 



192 



The Crusades 



201. The Civilization of the Saracens. — Beyond the Byzan- 
tine empire was the country of the Sar'a-cens (Mohammedans), 
which extended from the Tigris river through northern Africa 
and through Spain to the Pyrenees (§ 171 f.). The Moors, as 
the Mohammedans of Spain were called, had formed a state of 
their own, known as the Caliphate of Cor'do-va. Throughout 
their entire country the Saracens built great cities, some of 
which like Cordova contained more than half a million people, 




A Byzantine House 

Country dwelling of a wealthy family, patterned after a Roman house. It has an 
ample, two-storied porch in front, and on the end an overhanging balcony. From 
Ammann, 'Histoire de l'habitation humaine.' 

and which were beautified with splendid mosques and palaces. 
Their architecture is noted for its domes, graceful minarets, 
and beautiful arabesque ornamentation. In the universities 
of Cordova, Cairo, and Bagdad, learned teachers gave instruc- 
tion in literature, philosophy, astronomy, algebra, geometry, 
and physics to thousands of students at a time when, in Roman 
Catholic Europe, priests alone could read and write. The ele- 
ments of their knowledge the Saracens had derived from the 
Greeks, and had added many discoveries and inventions of their 



Saracens and Turks 



193 



own. Their manufactures were far finer and more varied than 
could be found in Christendom, and they traded with the whole 
known world. The excellence of their government contrasted 
strongly with the feudal anarchy of the Christians. 

202. The Turks in Possession of the Holy Land. — In the 
eleventh century a great horde of Turks from the country north 
of China, pouring into western Asia Minor, wrested these coun- 
tries from the Saracens and the emperor at Constantinople. 




The Mosque of Omar 

Jerusalem. So named after its supposed founder. Built 6oi on the foundation of 
the ancient Hebrew temple. Present condition. From a photograph. 



Jerusalem and the neighboring sepulchre of Christ fell into the 
hands of the barbarians. These places were constantly visited 
by pilgrims from every part of Christendom, who looked upon 
such journeys as an aid to salvation. The Saracens had pro- 
tected the pilgrims ; but the Turks, though converted to Mo- 
hammedanism, treated them most brutally. The Eastern 
emperor, Alexius I (1081-1118), wishing in reality to regain his 
lost provinces, appealed to the pope for help in an effort to 
win back the Holy Land. 



194 



The Crusades 



203. Motives Leading to the Crusades. — Urban II, pope at 
this time, welcomed the request. Such an undertaking, headed 
by himself, would be an act of piety. At the same time it 
would, if successful, extend the limits of Christ's kingdom, 
increase the prestige of the pope, and possibly recover for him 
the supremacy over the Eastern Church. The movement, 
set in motion at the council of Clermont, France, in 1095, lasted 




A Mohammedan School at Cairo 

Known as the Mosque of El-Azhar, built in the tenth century for religious and 
educational purposes. Even now instruction is here given to 9,000 students drawn 
from all nationalities of the Moslem world. From a sketch, reproduced in 'Album 
historique.' 



about two centuries. The various expeditions to the East are 
called Crusades from the circumstance that those who took part 
wore a cross. Many went from motives of piety, many from 
a desire to escape punishment for crimes. There was, too, the 
love of adventure which characterized the period we are now 
studying. Merchants took part in order to reap worldly profit 
in addition to their spiritual rewards. For the higher classes 
it was an especial motive that the feudal system, now be- 
coming more orderly, began somewhat to cramp the freedom of 



Motives and Character 195 

the individual. Chafing under the slightest restriction of their 
liberty, the knights rejoiced at this opportunity to break loose 
from all control, and to enter this new field which promised free 
scope to their personal ability. The few great nobles who acted 
as leaders dreamed of winning kingdoms for themselves. 

204. Character of the Movement. — Thousands, not only 
of unarmed men but even of women and children, were soon on 
their way eastward, all hoping that they would be miraculously 
fed and protected, and that God would deliver the enemy into 
their hands. They all perished from hunger, fatigue, and sick- 
ness, or were butchered by the people through whose country 
they passed. Voluntary bands of knights under their respec- 
tive leaders reached the Holy Land, 

conquered it, and divided it among 
themselves. Historians enumerate 
six great crusades within the two 
centuries above mentioned; but 
there were many minor expeditions, 
and there were every year great 
numbers of pilgrims travelling east- 
ward toward the Holy Sepulchre, Crusaders Marching 
many of whom perished on the From 'Album historique.' 
way. The later expeditions were 

devoted to other conquests in the East. One of them tem- 
porarily overthrew the Eastern empire and another assailed 
Egypt. Finally the Christians had to abandon the Holy Land, 
and the people of western Europe directed their attention to 
other matters. 

205. Religious and Political Effects. — The Crusades af- 
fected Christendom in ways of which the promoters of the move- 
ment had never dreamed. The pope had hoped to reunite 
the East with the West ; but the hostility which immediately 
sprang up between the crusaders and the emperor widened the 
schism. Instead of bringing the states into more complete 
subjection to the papacy, the movement created in them a more 
independent spirit. It opened an outlet for the warlike energy of 
the nobles, who after wasting their resources in these expeditions 




196 



The Crusades 



were less able to resist their kings. The latter were therefore 

at the close of the movement in a better position to put down 

feudalism and to build up centralized states of the modern kind. 

206. Civilizing Effects. — There were other equally important 

effects. Down to 
this time the West- 
erners, as has often 
been noticed, were 
ignorant and bar- 
barous. They 
could not feel their 
condition to be 
wretched, for they 
had little commu- 
nication with the 
rest of the world 
and were unaware 
of anything better. 
The experience of 
travel broadened 
their minds. In 
the East they saw 
with astonishment 
Greeks and Arabs 
living a life far 
above theirs in 
comfort and refine- 
ment. Compelled 
by their situation 
in the Holy Land 
to deal with the 
Mohammedans, 
the crusaders 
learned to respect and admire them as men of real worth in 
spite of the fact that they were not Christians. Those who 
returned home brought with them stimulating ideas and more 
open, liberal minds. Growing discontented with their . inferior 




Church of the Holy Sepulchre 

Built at Jerusalem in the twelfth century, on the spot 
supposed to have been occupied by the tomb of Christ. 



France 197 

condition, they began to strive toward a. higher standard 
of life. 

207. Economic Effects ; Literature. — The various national- 
ities of Europe had mingled in friendship on these journeys. 
Hence they were now more ready to shake off their exclu- 
siveness and to enter into commercial relations with one another 
as well as with the East. In fact, Mediterranean trade had 
become necessary in order to furnish the crusaders with food, 
and it continued after this need had passed away. For the 
purpose of supporting expeditions and of carrying on this com- 
merce, barter was insufficient; money had to be coined 'in far 
larger quantities than had formerly been needed. In connec- 
tion with this revival of coinage, banking, too, was revived, 
which further stimulated useful enterprise by making it possible 
to borrow large sums of money. 

Meanwhile the adventures attending these journeys were 
finding a place in a new literature ; and the zeal for exploration 
continued to grow, till it brought about the discovery and settle- 
ment of America. We should not be right in ascribing to the 
crusades alone all these improvements in Western life. Many 
causes were combining to bring them about, but they were 
helped and hastened by these expeditions. The period of the 
crusades was one of transition, for the improvements just men- 
tioned as resulting in part from them were precisely those which 
were transforming mediaeval into modern life. 

IV. France 

208. The Strengthening of Monarchy in France. — We are 

now in a position to understand how it was that France, which 
was more affected by the crusades than any other western 
nation, began about 1300 to take on the character of a modern 
state. The Capets (§ 193) were still handing down the royal 
authority without interruption from father to son. Fortu- 
nately in nearly every case the heir was at his accession a mature 
man, ready to take personal charge of the government, and 
most of the kings of this long dynasty were men of ability. 



1 98 



France 




The family favored the Church, and in return received the 
support of the clergy. There was the same good understand- 
ing between the king and the free towns. For these reasons 
the Capets succeeded in gradually gathering up all the fiefs 
of the kingdom into their own hands, in limiting the possessions 
of the English king, and in thus uniting France in one great 
state. 

209. Philip the Fair. — This process began before the cru- 
sades, and continued without interruption throughout that 
period. It was nearly completed by Philip the Fair (Philip 
IV, 1 285-13 14). He and other rulers of that time were greatly 
aided by the new education fostered at the universities (§ 223). 
In some of these institutions the study 
of Roman law had been revived, and 
was carried on with great zeal. The 
advantage which it offered to rulers of 
the age of Philip lay in the fact that 
it upheld the absolute power of the 
sovereign. Philip, as well as other 
kings of his time, no longer chose his 
ministers from the clergy, but from the 
rising class of scholars versed in Roman law, who devoted the 
whole force of their knowledge to freeing their sovereign from 
both feudal and papal restrictions. 

The king's vassals still rendered military service for a fixed 
number of days each year. As it was impossible to conduct 
a long campaign with such troops or to keep them thoroughly 
under control, Philip introduced the custom of requiring the 
vassals to pay money in place of military duty. With this 
money he could hire soldiers who would serve him as long as 
they were needed and at any season of the year, and who were 
far more obedient to his commands than the feudal lords" had 
been. His ministers and officials, too, required salaries; and 
he was determined further upon improving roads, erecting 
cathedrals, palaces, government offices, and other public works. 
But money payments from his vassals, together with the old 
feudal dues and the income from the king's domain, were not 



Medi.eval Coiners 

One man is striking coins; 
the other is testing them by 
weight. From 'Album his- 
torique.' 



Philip and Edward 199 

enough to support a large army and to pay the many civil 
officers of the government. Philip therefore levied duties on 
merchandise, taxes on incomes, and occasionally on personal 
property. 

210. He and Edward I of England Conflict with the Pope. — 
A large part of the wealth of the kingdom belonged to churches 
and monasteries; but when the king wished to tax these in- 
stitutions, the clergy refused on the ground that such posses- 
sions had been devoted to God, and were therefore free from the 
control of kings and princes. Boniface VIII, an ambitious, 
strong-willed pope who lived at this time, issued a bull (decree) 
forbidding the clergy to pay taxes to the king and threatening 
with excommunication any king or prince who collected such 
taxes. The decree affected England as well; for Edward I, 
king of that country (12 7 2-1307), was likewise taxing Church 
property. Edward answered the papal bull by forbidding the 
clergy the protection of the law till they should be willing to 
pay their taxes, while Philip met the difficulty by prohibiting 
the exportation of gold or silver from his kingdom, thus de- 
priving Boniface of a great part of his revenues. For a time 
these measures inclined the pope to a more moderate policy. 

211. The Estates General. — Recovering courage, Boniface 
in another bull asserted his temporal as well as spiritual su- 
premacy, and threatened to depose Philip for having imprisoned 
a papal legate. Desiring the support of the whole nation in 
his new conflict with the pope, Philip summoned a council of 
his people. This gathering was a development from the primi- 
tive German assembly of freemen (§§ 155, 178). The commons 
had ceased attending, so that the assembly had come to be a 
" Great Council " of influential barons — bishops, abbots, 
dukes, and counts. The clergy formed the " first estate " of the 
realm, the nobility the " second estate." The townsmen, 
who were merchants and artisans and who belonged to the 
" third estate," had as yet no representatives in the council. 
Wishing the support of this wealthy, industrious class, Philip 
required the towns to send deputies to the session of the year 
1302. A council made up of the three estates was called the 



200 France 

Estates General. The assembly of 1302 heartily supported 
the king against the pope. Other meetings which he afterward 
called were equally loyal. Far from any thought of maintain- 
ing their rights or of winning new privileges for their constit- 
uents, the delegates from the towns bowed submissively to the 
royal will. For this reason the estates general formed no check 
on the growing power of the king. 

Political Progress of Europe, 814-1300 

I. Decline of the Empire after Charlemagne: (1) growth of feudal- 
ism (§ 181 f.) ; (2) fresh invasions (§§ 180, 182 f.). 

II. The Frankish kingdom ; the duchy of Normandy. 

III. Norman conquest of England: (1) William the Conqueror's 

organization ; modified feudalism ; (2) effects of conquest : 
relations of Britain with southern Europe ; amalgamation of 
races; Englishmen. 

IV. Government of England: (1) compurgation and ordeals; (2) the 

courts : (a) curia regis, (b) juries, (c) church courts ; (3) re- 
strictions on the king's power : (a) the Magna Carta, (b) the 
Great Council — Parliament. 

V. Relations between England and France. 

VI. The Crusades : (1) The Byzantine empire contrasted with western 
Europe; enemies and invaders; (2) the Saracens: area and 
civilization ; (3) Turkish conquest of the Holy Land ; effect on 
Christian pilgrims ; (4) motives to the Crusades ; character 
of the movement; (5) effects of the Crusades: religious, polit- 
ical, economic, and cultural. 

VII. Progress of France: (1) effects of the Crusades; strengthening of 
the monarchy; (2) Philip the Fair: new class of ministers; 
paid soldiers ; public improvements ; increased need of money ; 
(3) Taxation of church property ; conflict with the pope (cf. 
Edward I of England) ; (4) the Estates General. 

Topics for Reading 

I. The Crusades. — Robinson, Readings, I. 312-43; Ogg, Source- 
Book, 284-96; Munro and Sellery, Medieval Civilization, 248-56; 
Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, chs. lviii, lix. 

II. William the Conqueror. — Robinson, Readings, I. 224-31 ; 
Lee, Source-Book of English History, n 1-2 2; Cheyney, Short History 
of England, 88-113; Green, Short History of the English People, 74-87. 



Studies 201 

Review 

With the syllabus before you, comment on each topic in order. 

Additional Studies 

i. Why was there little or no learning outside the clergy? 2. From 
what classes of persons did the Church draw its officers (§ 163)? 3. 
What were the States of the Church (§ 173)? 4- Did the pope have 
more or less power in the time of Gregory VII than in the time of Charle- 
magne? 5. In the conflict between Gregory VII and the civil rulers 
what could be said in justification of the pope and of the civil rulers 
respectively? 6. When and how did Germany fall into political ruin? 
7. Why was the early history of France and England different from 
that of Germany? 8. How did the feudalism of England under William 
I differ from that of France and Germany (ch. xiv) ? 9. Who were the 
barons (§ 181)? 10. Who were tenants-in-chief (ch. xiv) ? n. Why 
did the eastern half of the Roman empire continue long after the western 
half had been dissolved (§159)? 12. Why were the Saracens more 
advanced in civilization than the Christians of western Europe? 13. 
Why had the churches of the East and the West fallen apart (§ 167)? 



CHAPTER XVI 



LIFE IN COUNTRY AND TOWN 



I. The Manor 




212. The World in Semi-Barbarism. — The Roman empire 
at the height of its prosperity was filled with wealthy cities, 
whose people earned a good living by manufacturing and trade 
(§ 126). But during the decline these activities came nearly 

to an end through the ruin of roads and 
bridges, the failure of the government to 
protect traders and their merchandise from 
robbers and invading enemies, the scarcity 
of money, and the decay of mechanical and 
artistic skill. Under these circumstances 
each country estate had to manufacture 
the tools and cloths needed by its occu- 
pants. People deserted the cities because 
they could no longer find a livelihood there. 
All these conditions were made worse by the 
coming in and settlement of the Germans, 
the most of whom were satisfied with the 
coarsest food, clothing, dwellings, and fur- 
niture. Hunting and tilling the soil became 
once more the chief means of subsistence. 
In brief the inhabitants of western Europe 
relapsed into a rude, semi-barbarous condition similar to that 
from which the Romans had emerged more than five centuries 
B.C. and the Greeks in far earlier time. 

213. The Castle. — In this period country life centred 
about the castle, in which the lord resided. Early in the period 



Medi.eval Cooks 

One cook is roasting 
meat held on the fire 
by a long spit ; another 
is stirring the soup or 
stew in a huge pot sus- 
pended by a hook. 
Workmen of this period 
often wore short tunics 
belted at the waist. 
From ' Album his- 
torique.' 



The Castle 



203 



it was wooden, and therefore easily burned by enemies ; but 
in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries most castles were built 
of stone, many of them so solidly that they are still standing. 
To make his castle more defensible the lord generally placed 
it on a high steep hill or 
mountain, but sometimes 
on an island or in a 
marsh. Round it was a 
yard enclosed by a huge 
stone wall strengthened 
at intervals by turrets. 
In many cases the wall 
was made more difficult 
of approach by surround- 
ing it with a deep ditch — 
moat — filled with water. 
The moat was especially 
useful in preventing the 
battering engines of ene- 
mies from approaching 
the walls. The builder 
left in the enclosing wall 
a single narrow gate 
flanked by strong towers. 
At that point the moat 
was crossed by a bridge 
which could be drawn up 
in time of danger, and the 
gate — portcullis — on the 
other hand, was opened 
by drawing up and 
quickly closed by drop- 
ping. Portcullis and drawbridge did not exist in the earliest 
castles but were relatively late improvements. The gate was 
approached on the outside by a narrow, steep path, which 
gave the defenders a great advantage over an attacking enemy. 
Within the yard in outer buildings the lord kept his horses 




A Castle 

Showing the moat, drawbridge, wall and 
towers, interior buildings, and to our left the 
donjon or keep. Restoration of the chateau de 
la Roche-Pont, France. 



204 



The Manor 



and other necessary domestic animals. He aimed also to 
have always on hand a large stock of provisions to enable him to 
endure a siege. The water supply was provided for by cisterns 
and wells. 

214. Life of the Nobles. — The castle was almost as barely 
furnished and as gloomy as a prison. The lord and his family 
lacked the comforts enjoyed by the 
poorest workman of to-day. In time, as 
their tastes improved and their wealth 
increased, they were able to buy better 
clothes and furnishings ; but at its best 
their life was the opposite of luxurious. 
The lord spent much of his time in 
managing his estate — manor — and in 
dispensing justice to its occupants ; for 
he was not only proprietor of the manor 
but also magistrate, often practically 
sovereign, over all who lived on it. 
Hunting afforded him his chief recrea- 
tion and at the same time supplied the 
family with meat. Vast tracts of land 
once cultivated were covered with for- 
ests, the home not only of the hare and 
deer but of savage beasts. 

The nobles despised books, thinking 
them fit only for monks. Their educa- 
tion was a training in court etiquette 
and in the use of arms. The king or 
great lord kept at his court the sons of 
his vassals, who were there instructed in the elements of manli- 
ness as it was then regarded. As a page the boy waited on the 
ladies and as a squire the youth served a knight to whom he was 
attached. In this way he learned politeness while he was train- 
ing himself in the practice of arms, riding, and other manly arts. 
Only by performing some valorous deed could he gain the right 
to knighthood. This honor was conferred by his lord or under 
some circumstances by a common knight or even by a lady. 




A Noble 

Twelfth century. He wears 
a long tunic with low broad 
collar, a mantle, bracelet, and 
pointed shoes. His clothing 
is of fine material. From a 
MS. in the Library of Tours. 



Noble Men and Women 



205 



The essential act was a blow on the neck with a sword, accom- 
panied with some such declaration as, "I dub thee knight in the 
name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Be faithful, bold, 
and fortunate." There were other ceremonies more or less 
elaborate. The knight swore to protect the weak, succor the 
needy, and defend Christianity, to be truthful, loyal to his suze- 
rain (lord) and faithful to the lady of his choice. 

215. Chivalry and Minstrelsy; Noble Women. — The spirit 
and etiquette of knightly life are termed chivalry. In reality 
some knights were violent, brutal 
oppressors of the helpless, devoid of 
respect for women and faithless to 
every obligation. Nevertheless the 
high ideal placed before them was 
an influence for good, and doubtless 
many lived up to the standard. 
Their deeds and loves furnished 
subjects for many a poetic tale. In 
southern France the composers of 
such poems were the troubadours, 
in Germany the minnesingers. 
They were among the first to use 
the modern languages for literary 
purposes. Minstrels travelled from 
court to court earning their living 
by singing these songs to the ac- 
companiment of the lute or other musical instrument. The 
lords and ladies took pleasure in listening, for amusements were 
few. Sometimes they played chess, or danced, or watched the 
mimic battles of knights on horseback. A contest between two 
was a joust, between whole companies a tournament. But 
nothing could so interest a lord as an actual war. He was 
fighting most of the time either against his suzerain, or against 
a fellow lord, or to put down undutiful vassals. Such struggles 
destroyed many lives and a vast amount of property. 

The education of the women of the castle and court was domes- 
tic. Among their household duties were sewing, spinning, and 




Strolling Musicians 

Encouraged by the hope of re- 
freshments. Thirteenth century. 
From a MS. in the National 
Library, Paris. 



2o6 



The Manor 



weaving, as they found it necessary to make most of the clothing 
for themselves and their families, as well as to superintend the 
similar work of the peasant women on the manor. They spent 
much time in embroidering tapestries for the decoration of the 
walls of their homes. They were by no means weaklings, but 
often hunted on horseback with the men or even helped them 
defend the castle when attacked. 

In some localities, particularly in England, the lesser lords 
found it possible to live in unfortified dwellings. Such abodes 

were manor-houses. 
Life in the manor- 
house, though less mili- 
tary than in the castle, 
was in other respects 
the same ; and there 
was no essential differ- 
ence in the manage- 
ment of the estate. 

216. The Estate and 
the Peasants. — 
Around thelord's dwell- 
ing lay his demesne, or 
private land, which he 
kept under his immedi- 
ate control. Adjoining 
it was the church land, 
on which stood the 
chapel, with its burial ground, and the dwelling of the priest 
or rector, surrounded by his garden and orchard. Near 
the church was the village, a group of little huts, occupied 
by the peasants and their cows, pigs, and fowls. Although 
most of the villagers were serfs, there were a few freemen and 
on some manors, slaves. In law, if not in fact, a freeman might 
come and go as he chose, whereas a serf was bound to the soil, 
and a slave was wholly dependent upon his master. All the 
villagers had to appear before the lord's court of justice when 
summoned, and submit to his decisions concerning themselves. 




A Manor House 

Normandy, thirteenth century. From Viollet-le- 
Duc, ' Dictionnaire de l'architecture francaise.' 



Estate and Peasants 



207 



|A*«* A A t a * » 

WOODLAND AND 

tJ LOW(SOErieSNE' >^ A j^..~p £ 



In the village were the bakery, the mill, and the smithy. 
In their homes and smithy the peasants made their furniture, 
cloth and tools, so that they had to buy nothing but a few raw 
materials, such as iron. The arable land of every well-regulated 
manor was divided into three fields of several hundred acres 
each. In a given year the East field, we may say, was planted 
to wheat, the South field to oats, rye, and barley, and the West 
field lay fallow, producing nothing but grass. Then in the follow- 
ing year the West field 
would be planted to 
wheat, the East field to 
the coarser grains, while 
the South field would 
lie fallow. The arrange- 
ment here described is 
called the three-field 
system. It was found 
by centuries of experi- 
ence that the soil re- 
mains more productive 
when planted thus, in 
rotation, to different 
kinds of crops, and 
needs, when not sys- 
tematically fertilized, 
one year of idleness out 
of every three for re- 
cuperation. 

The arable land was 




WOODLAND ANDWASTM 



The Three-field System 
Black strips belong to demesne. 

divided into long narrow strips, each containing about an 
acre, or on some estates half that amount. Year by year 
they were apportioned by lot among the villagers, in order 
to secure the utmost fairness in the division of the soil. 
Every peasant had a right to perhaps ten strips in each field. 
Altogether he might have the use of from fifteen to thirty acres ;■ 
but though industrious, he worked ignorantly and produced 
small, poor crops. He was at the mercy of his lord, who often 



208 Monasteries and Universities 

exacted of him far more than was reasonable or just. But 
regularly the peasant handed over to the lord fixed amounts of 
produce, as poultry, eggs, wheat, and oats, and labored a 
definite number of days on the lord's demesne. At least half 
of the serf's time was given in this way to his master. He was 
obliged further to give the priest a portion of all his produce 
that his pastor might be supported and that something might 
be sent to the Holy Father at Rome. 

217. The Stability of Serfdom. — From what has been said 
above it is clear that the villagers were heavily burdened. The 
endless round of toil was rarely interrupted by a holiday. The 
coarser foods were theirs, while the delicacies went to the lord 
and his family. Before the invention of printing they owned 
no books and were unable to read or write. In their hard exist- 
ence they had little time or inclination to think. While grum- 
bling at their miseries, they made no effort to rise above this 
condition ; in fact there was no ground for hope. Under the 
existing system of landholding it would have been impossible 
for an individual to introduce better methods of farming. As 
there was almost no money in circulation, he could save nothing, 
however thrifty his disposition may have been. If there was a 
slight opportunity for a gradual advancement of the class, it 
was taken from them by the numerous wars, famines, and 
plagues. Through all these hardships the peasant suffered far 
more than his master. If an invading army ravaged his field, 
or drought and storm destroyed his crop, he had nothing laid 
up in store to tide him over the evil day ; and if disease assailed 
his family, he could not procure medical aid. From his miseries 
there was no escape but death. It is not strange then that in 
western Europe serfdom continued through many centuries, 
and that its end finally came through circumstances over which 
the villagers had no control. 

II. The Monasteries and Universities 

218. The Economic Value of the Monastery. — Far more 
intelligent and therefore more effective was the labor of the 



Monks and Friars 



209 



monks in the fields of their monastery (§ 166). Often the estate 
was originally a forest or waste tract granted by a king or 
baron and converted into a productive farm. Thus the institu- 
tion was the chief agent in reclaiming for agriculture the vast 
forests and waste lands of western Europe. The monastic 
estate served as a model farm for the surrounding country ; the 
buildings were large, substantial, 
well adapted to their purpose, and 
in many cases beautiful. Develop- 
ing considerable manufacturing and 
trade, these communities were second 
only to the towns as a factor in the 
economic progress which helped 
greatly to bring about the change 
from mediaeval to modern life. 

219. New Orders of Monks; the 
Friars. — When the Benedictine 
monks (§ 166) became idle through 
laxity of discipline, new orders were 
from time to time instituted, to lay 
fresh emphasis on labor and on strict- 
ness of life. To counteract the grow- 
ing wealth and luxury of the clergy 
and to restore the Christian religion 
to its early simplicity and purity, St. 
Francis (born about n 80) founded 
an order of begging monks — the 
Franciscan friars (Latin fratres, 
"brothers ")• The Dominican friars 
were a similar order established about the same time. The two 
orders differed from others in having each a General whom all 
members were bound to obey. Whereas the monks usually 
remained at their monasteries engaged in the saving of their 
own souls, the friars went out into the world to relieve suffering 
and to preach the gospel. Their orders, too, founded many 
monasteries and became wealthy. Monks and friars were 
the regular clergy, whereas the parish priests were secular. 




A Dominican Friar 

The monastic orders are dis- 
tinguished mainly by color of 
uniform. The Dominican wears 
a short black cape over a white 
robe. From Helyot, ' Histoire 
des ordres monastiques.' 



2IO 



Monasteries and Universities 



220. Monasteries as Centres of Learning. — Another func- 
tion of the monks was education. Every monastery, as well 
as every bishopric, was expected to have a school, the sole ob- 
ject of which was to give the instruction in religion and theology 
necessary for the clergyman. Almost from the beginning the 
Christians had opposed the study of the Greek and Latin clas- 
sics, mainly because they were pagan. The scientific works of the 
ancients they especially shunned in the belief that these sciences 

were contrary to Scrip- 
ture. Through the 
neglect of the Chris- 
tians therefore, quite 
as much as through the 
barbarian invasions, 
most of the Greek and 
Latin literature was 
either destroyed or 
lost. In the more lib- 
eral monasteries, how- 
ever, the monks spent 
part of their time in 
writing historical and 
theological works and 
in copying the ancient 
classics which still 
existed. Some of these 
books are written in a beautiful hand and are illustrated 
with pictures called illuminations, painted in bright colors. 
But there was no paper, and parchment was very expensive. 
Few books accordingly were written. The spread, of knowl- 
edge among the people was retarded, too, by the fact that 
Latin — the language of learning — was known to few out- 
side the clergy ; for spoken Latin had differentiated into the 
Romance languages, as the Italian, French, and- Spanish. 1 

1 A common language can be maintained over a wide area in no other way than by 
constant intercourse between one part and another and by education in a common 
literature. When in the general decline of Roman civilization (ch. x) these two 
conditions failed, the spoken language of the Latin countries began to break up into 
dialects, from which the present Romance languages developed. 




Cloisters 

Of the Abbey of Mont-Saint-Michael, built in the 
thirteenth century. Cloisters are galleries, gen- 
erally with an arcade, surrounding the interior 
court of a monastery. They are a shelter for walk- 
ing and teaching. From them open the cells of 
the monks. From ' Album historique.' 



Learning 211 

Although local poets were using these languages as well as the 
German and English for the expression of their fancies (§ 215), 
no one as yet thought of employing them for scholarly purposes. 

221. The Mediaeval Attitude of Mind. — The clergy had 
become the only teachers. Though their fund of knowledge 
was small and their teaching mainly religious, they succeeded in 
instilling in the minds of the barbarous Germans a reverence for 
the Church and a respect for the books from which the clergy* 
drew their information. They taught these simple-minded 
folk the lesson of faith — implicit belief in what was told them 
about this world and the hereafter. The chief difference be- 
tween the mediaeval and the modern man is that the mind of the 
former was absolutely controlled by religion. He never doubted ; 
what passed for the truth he accepted. Countless stories of the 
saints and martyrs and miracles of doubtful origin were im- 
plicitly believed. In many cases the unscrupulous deceived the 
faithful, and induced them to worship as saintly relics objects 
which had had no connection with the saints. Even scholars of 
repute and princes were sometimes imposed upon by forged 
documents. 

This condition of mind made it possible for false sciences, 
like alchemy and astrology, to flourish. The alchemist devoted 
his energy to seeking the " elixir " or the " philosopher's stone," 
which would transmute the baser metals to gold and prolong 
life through hundreds of years. Astrologers claimed the power 
of predicting events in the lives of individuals by observation 
of the stars. Both " sciences " were known to the ancients, 
but were nourished to a new life by the general superstition of 
the period now under consideration. Although alchemy has 
died out with the rise of chemistry, astrology is still practised 
upon the gullible by fortune-tellers. 

222. Scholasticism. — The higher learning of the time, con- 
sisting chiefly of logic and theology, is called scholasticism. Its 
essence was the setting of authority above the reason. Instead 
of trying to discover new truths by observing nature and by 
independent thinking, the schoolmen aimed to deduce knowl- 
edge from the Bible and from early Christian writers by means 



212 Monasteries and Universities 

of logic which they had learned from an imperfect Latin transla- 
tion of Aristotle's minor logical works (§ 86). Scholasticism 
produced acute reasoners, who too often spent their time in 
quibbling with words or in trying to settle unpractical questions. 
Some of them, however, did good service by putting existing 
knowledge in order. Thomas A-qui'nas (died 1274) reduced 
the doctrines of the Church to a theological system which has 
remained with scarcely a change to the present day. He was 
the most eminent of the schoolmen, a reasoner of great clear- 
ness and force. In his time communications were improving 
between western Europe and Constantinople, which was still 
Greek. Aquinas helped bring about a new and more accurate 
translation of Aristotle from the Greek. It was largely the 
renewed acquaintance with Greek literature now faintly be- 
ginning which was to lead to a revival of learning (Renaissance, 
ch. xvii). 

223. Universities. — In the Middle Ages to about 1100, 
schools were limited to monasteries and churches; so that 
education was almost wholly confined to those who wished to 
enter the clergy. It was poor in quality and limited in scope. 
Early in the twelfth century, however, individual teachers in 
the larger cities were engaged in educating whatever students 
they could attract. In a bare room, hired for the purpose, sat 
the teacher, book in hand, reading and explaining the text to 
a group of boys and young men seated before him on heaps of 
straw. Books were so scarce and so expensive that the majority 
of students had to receive all their instruction orally, occasion- 
ally taking notes. The teacher supported himself by fees from 
his students. He lectured on whatever subjects he chanced to 
know. Before the close of the twelfth century so many teachers 
had gathered in Paris that they formed a guild, like that of the 
merchants, for their mutual protection. In that period any 
guild was called a university (Latin universitas) , but in time the 
word came to be restricted to an association of teachers. In this 
way the University of Paris came into being. Similar institu- 
tions were established in Oxford, England, in Bologna, Italy, 
and in other places. 



Universities 



213 



As the university grew more complex, it came to include 
faculties of arts, law, medicine, and theology. The faculty of 
arts gave instruction in the " seven liberal arts " — grammar, 
rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, music, geometry, and astronomy. 
The law faculty taught Roman law and Church law. Bologna 
was especially famous for its school of law. 

The students, who had gathered from all countries, organized 
themselves in " provinces " and " nations," under their officers. 




Christ Church College, Oxford 

Oxford University was founded in the twelfth century. This picture is a view of 
one of its most celebrated colleges. 

Though eager for knowledge, they generally led disorderly lives, 
carousing in the taverns and fighting with one another or with 
the people of the city in which they resided. When the civil 
authorities took measures to punish the evil-doers, it sometimes 
happened that the whole student body threatened to migrate 
to another place. Such a threat brought indulgence or even 
increased privileges, for the city profited greatly by the expen- 
ditures of the students. 



214 



Monasteries and Universities 



At first the university possessed no buildings. In time, how- 
ever, generous men founded dormitories for the poor students. 
These buildings were termed colleges; and though intended 
merely as lodging houses, they were finally used also for instruc- 
tion. 

224. Buildings. — In the preceding pages a description of the 
typical castle has been presented, and mention has been made 
of the English manor-house (§§ 213, 215). Many guildhalls 




City Hall at Ypees, Belgium 

Built in the thirteenth century, it became a cloth market after the erection of a 
new city hall in the seventeenth century. From a photograph. Appearance before 
the great World War. 



and townhalls were of great size, as they were designed to ac- 
commodate large numbers of citizens (§ 227 f.). The most 
artistic creation of the period, however, was the Gothic church. 
In this use of the word, Gothic is but another name for Ger- 
manic, and the style of architecture was so named because it 
developed most strikingly north of the Alps. Our chief interest 
here is in contrasting it with the classic style from which it grew. 
In the Gothic church the pointed arch is substituted for the 
round Roman arch. This new element made it possible to give 



Cathedrals 



215 




Cologne Cathedral 

One of the most beautiful and imposing of Gothic churches. It was begun about 
1200 and completed in 1880. 



216 Monasteries and Universities 

the roof a steep slant, and to adorn the cathedrals — the great 
churches of the bishops — with a multitude of spires. The 
windows are tall, slender, and decorated in beautiful colors. 
In the larger buildings piers are used in place of columns to 




Milan Cathedral 

The building was begun in 1386 and is not yet completed. It is third in size 
of European churches, the first being St. Peter's, Rome, and the second the 
Cathedral of Seville, Spain. The capacity of the church here pictured is 40,000, 
and the elaborate decorations include 4440 statues. 

support the arches. The nature of the pier and of the other 
features of the Gothic church may be learned from the illustra- 
tions. 

The art of an age expresses its ideals. While the Greek temple 
nestles closely to earth, as if content with this goodly life, the 
Gothic spires lift the minds of the worshippers to the heavenly 
world, symbolizing in this way the highest aspirations of mediae- 
val man. 



Towns and Cities 



217 



III. Business Lite 

225. Towns and Cities. — In the Middle Ages life was almost 
wholly agricultural. As the people therefore were scattered 
throughout the country, there were few towns. During the 
twelfth and thirteenth centuries, however, they increased rapidly 
in number and in population. We are not to think of the cities 
of the thirteenth century as 
large according to the present 
standard ; the population of 
London was about 25,000, 
and no other English city 
reached half that size. Such 
a town or city occupied, for 
the number of inhabitants, 
an exceedingly small space. 
The streets were narrow lanes 
and the houses were built 
closely together. No vacant 
room was left excepting the 
market place. The reasons 
are that people had not yet 
learned to look out for com- 
fort, and that a compact town 
was easier to surround with a 
wall of defence. 

Often the town was merely 
an enlargement of a village, 
dependent on a castle or 
monastery. The demand for 
better clothing, tools, weapons, and the like was the principal 
force which brought about its growth. In answer to the demand 
men who had a taste for mechanical labor devoted themselves 
wholly to it and thus developed far higher skill and produced 
far better wares than could be found in a purely agricultural 
community. By the gathering of such men in one place the 
town or city was built up. 




A Mediaeval Armorer 

Among his products are helmets of differ- 
ent kinds, breastplates, gauntlets, and 
greaves. To our left is a full suit of 
armor in position, such as we find in many 
museums of Europe. From Amman, 
' Stande und Handwerker,' 1568. 



218 Business Life 

226. Increasing Industry and Commerce. — The inhabitants 
manufactured for themselves and their country neighbors the 
most necessary articles of use, as cloth and clothing, weapons 
and wares of leather, wood and metal. In exchange for these 
manufactured goods they received raw materials and food 
supplies. As the industries improved and money became more 
plentiful, the cities extended their commerce farther and farther. 
Those of Flanders became famous throughout the western world 
for their fine woollen, muslin, and linen goods. Those of 
northern Italy supplied the churches with furniture and vessels 
used in the. service and with appropriate vestments for the 
clergy. The north German towns had the special work of 
importing and distributing the raw products of the Baltic 
countries, such as smoked and salt fish, lumber, iron, and furs ; 
but they also manufactured arms and other metal wares as 
well as cloths. 

227. The Guild Merchant. — The manufacturers sold their 
own wares, and were for that reason included among the mer- 
chants. For mutual protection the merchants of a town banded 
themselves together in a guild. It included many but not 
necessarily all the inhabitants of the place. The association 
had its officers and its place and times of meeting for business 
and for social intercourse. It came to the rescue of " brethren " 
who had fallen into poverty ; it stood ready to procure at its 
own expense the release of any brother who had been imprisoned ; 
and it took charge of the funerals of its dead. Another object 
was to maintain for itself a monopoly of the mercantile business 
of the town. With that end in view it prohibited all non- 
members from buying and selling, or narrowly restricted them 
and subjected them to special dues. The institution developed 
gradually with the growth of towns and reached the height of 
its importance in the thirteenth century. In many instances 
it was strong enough to control the town government ; in some 
the government of the association was practically identical 
with that of the town. 

228. The Craft Guilds. — The growth of the guild merchant 
had not progressed far before its members began to form small 



Guilds 219 

associations with one another — all of the same trade banding 
themselves together in a craft guild. The object of such an 
association was the control of the handicraft with which it was 
concerned. The members of the guild aimed to limit the num- 
ber to be admitted to it, in order that those who belonged might 
be able to make a fair profit from their labor, and to keep the 
skill up to a high standard. With these ends in view they care- 
fully regulated the training required for admission. One who 
wished to follow a trade had as apprentice to serve a fixed num- 
ber of years, commonly seven. The number of such beginners 
was limited. At the end of the time agreed upon with the master, 
the apprentice became free, and could 
henceforth work on daily wages for a ^Sj/^v 

master. In this condition he was a /^f^|^ fl hr~ 

journeyman. By saving money he could .0^3M (^§35 

buy a house of his own and engage ..-*' jt frfflOi^^S 
apprentices and journeymen. He was j £^f\\ jffirfyol^m 

now a master artisan and became a 

, , , . e , ., , . ,_„. Mediaeval Coopers 

member of his craft guild on fulfilling 

all the conditions imposed by it. Each ho ^ ^TiJS^ 

of these associations, tOO, had its officers barrel. In this age the tools 

and its place and times of meeting ; in *? r ski ! led labor were sim P le - 

, . r . . . , .-.a From Album historique.' 

brief it was a copy of the larger guild 

merchant. There came to be many craft guilds in the greater 
towns and cities; but it was only after the decline of the 
guild merchant — in the fourteenth century — that they 
acquired notable power. 

229. Markets and Fairs. — The most important event in 
mediaeval business was the fair, or market, usually held under 
the auspices of a town or feudal lord. An open square was 
chosen in a convenient place, often in the town itself or on the 
estate of a noble. The time and place of meeting were then 
heralded far and wide through the neighboring country. Mer- 
chants from distant lands, as Sweden and the eastern Mediter- 
ranean, as well as neighboring farmers came together with their 
products. For this privilege they paid a fee. Meanwhile no 
merchant in the neighborhood was permitted to sell goods ex- 



220 Business Life 

cepting at the fair. To provide against the admission of goods 
without the payment of the customary toll, the marketplace 
was surrounded by a palisade and guarded by pickets. 

Purchasers thronged to these places. Here they could buy 
" ornaments of holy Church," household goods as " vytell for 
the time of Lent," linen and woollen cloth, flax, wax, brass and 




A Country Fair 

In the centre is a middle-class citizen with his wife departing with their purchases. 
A lame beggar holds out his hand to them. On our right is a workman unpacking 
cloth, and behind him are cloth dealers with their customers. Behind the beggar 
are a money-changer and a customer. Back of them is a high stage occupied by 
actors. The background is filled with steep-roofed houses and church spires. From 
'Album historique.' 

pewter pots, and eatables — in brief, the necessaries of life and 
a few simple luxuries. To protect purchasers from fraud — 
for the merchants of that time were tricky — and to punish 
rowdies, a special court was established on the grounds. 

The fair was, too, an important social event. Ordinarily 
life in those times must have been monotonous and dull. There 



Fairs, Travel 221 

was no amusement or recreation ; nowhere could one find relief 
from the daily grind of hard labor. How welcome to the coun- 
tryman, then, must have been the excitement of the fair ! There 
were halls where he might gamble or dance. There were clowns 
a-plenty to make him laugh. Trained dogs and wild animals 
from distant lands furnished ample entertainment for the 
good-natured countryfolk. Many a yokel would gape wonder- 
ingly at such monstrosities as the two-headed man or the bearded 
lady. Others obtained real enjoyment from morality plays, 
whose female parts were acted by men, or from the efforts of 
poets and musicians. 

230. Difficulties of Travel. — The fair, however, was the 
one bright spot in mediaeval commercial life. Business was 
carried on under the most adverse conditions. Perhaps the 
greatest obstacle to commerce was the difficulty and expense of 
going from one place to another. Travel was not a sightseeing 
tour, as it often is to-day ; for in those times one could not board 
a train and reach his destination in a few hours. Always the 
traveller had an earnest purpose in view. He might be a great 
landowner who wished to look after property scattered through 
three or four counties. He might perhaps be engaged in a law- 
suit in London. He might even be a pilgrim such as Chaucer 
writes about : — ■ 

Whan that Aprille with his shoures sote 

The droghte of Marche hath perced to the rote, 

And bathed every veyne in swich licour, 

Of which vertu engendred is the flour. . . . 

Than longen folk to goon on pilgrimages 

And palmers (pilgrims) for to seken straunge strondes 

To feme halwes (shrines), kouthe in sondry londes; 

And specially from every shires ende 

Of Engelond, to Caunterbury they wende; 

The holy blisful martir for to seke, 

That hem hath holpen, whan that they were seke. 

More often, however, he was a merchant or trader. 

The mediaeval traveller, man or woman, usually set out on 
horseback. He found it inconvenient, though often necessary, 
to take baggage with him. Usually it was packed in chests and 



222 



Business Life 



carried on animals or in carts. The wealthy rode in elaborately 
decorated carriages. In doing so they sacrificed comfort to 
style, for the roads had been poorly made and as a rule were 
sadly in need of repair. 

In fact, there was no one to take care of the roads and bridges. 
Originally that task had been performed by the barons, at least 
until the decay of the feudal system. The kings, still very 
weak, thought it advisable to spend money on armies rather than 
on internal improvements. More and more, therefore, this duty 

fell upon those chari- 
table persons who be- 
queathed money for 
that object. 

231. Dangers and 
Expense of Travel. 
— The effects of this 
lack of system soon 
became serious. In 
the prosperous town 
of Gloucester, streets 
were so poorly paved 
that one could not 
use them without 
endangering one's life. 
Country roads were worse; they were full of pitfalls which 
made progress almost impossible. Bridges had fallen to ruin 
and the traveller had to seek a ford and bravely struggle across. 
All these obstacles made transportation slow ; it was in fact a 
hardy and experienced traveller who could make thirty miles a 
day. 

At present we may venture in the night on a country road 
with comparative safety. In the Middle Ages highway robbery 
and acts of violence were common. The traveller was advised 
to carry weapons or to join a caravan, to ensure his safety. 
It is true that the Church was ever vigilant in repressing dis- 
order and in preserving the " Peace of God." Little help could 
be expected of the nobles. In fact, many of the nobility con- 




Old English Bridge 



Used only by pedestrians. 
ford. From Traill. 



Vehicles had to seek a 
'Social England.' 



Travel 223 

sidered it valorous to take part in deeds of violence and perfectly 
honorable to receive a share of the booty. Shakespeare sets 
forth the highhanded brigandry of Prince Hal in a drama true 
to the life of that time. 

Travelling, too, proved expensive. Upon entering the domain 
of every feudal lord, the traveller was forced to pay a toll on him- 
self and his belongings. In return for this fee the lord promised 
to protect his life, limb, and property — a promise which was 
of little value in actual practice. It proved so lucrative, how- 
ever, to the collector of fees that the number of toll stations 
continually increased. This growth meant an added expense 
in the transportation of goods. For instance, in travelling from 
Nantes to Orleans on the river Loire — a distance equal to that 
between New York and Albany — the price of goods was more 
than doubled by toll charges. This added cost eventually 
came from the consumer's pocket. 

232. Travel by Water. — Wherever possible therefore the 
traveller preferred to journey by river or sea. People of leisure, 
too, sought diversion in water trips; and rivers were gay with 
boats, both large and small. Travel on inland water was pleas- 
ant and less expensive. There was great danger, however, in 
journeying by sea, for ships were light and poorly built, and were 
tossed about on every wave. Until the fourteenth century, 
when the compass was discovered, sea voyages were for short 
distances only. When sight of land was lost, the captain took 
the lives of all into his hands, and under these circumstances 
we can sympathize with faint-hearted passengers. In those 
earlier times the navigator's sole guides were the sun and stars; 
in stormy weather he could only guess at the course. 

There were no accurate maps or charts, and the great area of 
unknown seas held countless terrors. Imagination peopled the 
waters with huge monsters, who could swallow a whole ship 
with its cargo. This fate one might avoid, only to be engulfed 
in some dreadful whirlpool. It was an additional terror that 
the world was thought to be flat and a ship dared not venture 
too far, lest it fall over the edge. 

233. Piracy. — There was, moreover, the far too real danger 



224 Business Life 

of pirates, who swarmed on every sea, for their crime was not 
then so heinous as at present. Many thought it a branch of 
legitimate trade. Even a reputable merchantman might turn 
pirate, if it chanced to meet a smaller ship. A fight at sea was 
an exciting spectacle. Drawing alongside their prey, the crew 
of the pirate ship swarmed over its decks. A desperate hand-to- 
hand struggle with knives and dirks ensued. No quarter was 
given or asked ; the losers were murdered in cold blood and tossed 
overboard. The officers, however, were often held for ransom, 
while the cargo of the captured merchantman was transferred 
to the pirate vessel. For self-protection therefore the crews of 
merchantmen were armed with bows, arrows, knives, and dirks ; 
and later with cannon and small arms. On the principle, too, 
that there is safety in numbers, merchants preferred to send 
forth their ships in fleets. 

234. The Hanseatic League. — About 1200 the German cities 
on the Baltic sea began to unite in what is known as the Han- 
se-at'ic league. It included a hundred members, each with a 
vote in its parliament. This league was primarily for self- 
defence ; and with the help of its army and navy it suppressed 
piracy in near-by waters. For three centuries it remained a 
powerful commercial and political force. It engaged in war 
with foreign nations, as Denmark and Sweden. With other 
countries it made commercial treaties. It monopolized the 
Baltic trade, and even had commercial stations in distant cities. 

235. Constantinople. — In spite of these developments in 
the Baltic and neighboring seas, the Mediterranean remained 
the centre of the commercial world. Its greatest port was 
Constantinople. That city is especially interesting to us as the 
defender of western civilization against advancing hordes of 
barbarians. From the fourth to the tenth century it drove back 
successive hosts of invaders, and in this way saved the civilized 
part of Europe from desolation. For these signal services if for 
no other reason, this city deserves a place in our memory. 

During these centuries Constantinople lost her great empire 
but retained her commercial power. Still commanding the 
trade routes to the East, she remained the distributing centre 



Commercial Cities 



225 



for goods from Asia Minor and India — the warehouse of rich 
Eastern products : " wines, sugar, dried fruits and nuts, cotton, 
drugs, dyestuffs, certain kinds of leather and other manufac- 
tured articles." l 

236. Genoa and Venice. — There was a constant demand for 
those articles which Eastern merchants brought to Constanti- 
nople. The Italian cities were the first to 
carry such products from that centre, and 
to distribute them through Europe. Genoa, 
with its excellent seaport and skilled sailors, 
was destined to win a large part of this 
trade. The government of this little city- 
state, too, was highly efficient and its 
citizens were anxious to expand their enter- 
prise. 

Her claims were soon disputed by Venice, 
" the Queen of the Adriatic." Early in the 
fifth century successive barbarian invasions 
had driven many people to seek refuge in 
the marshes off the coast of northeastern 
Italy. Here they founded Venice, and for 
a long time lived by fishing. They were far 
removed from the turmoil connected with 
the breaking up of the Roman empire, and 
they were secure from attacks by enemies. 
As a result they were free to work out their 
own destiny. It was natural that the 
Venetians, living as they did on many small 
islands, should devote themselves to the sea. 
Their very position made them sailors. By 
the end of the tenth century they had built up a considerable 
merchant marine. At first they were content with the Mediter- 
ranean trade and planted many commercial settlements on its 
shores and islands. 

237. Marco Polo. — It was the great Venetian traveller, 
Marco Polo, who first acquainted his countrymen with the real 

1 Cheyney, Industrial and Social History of England, 84. 
Q 




A Genoese Merchant 

About 1600. He wears 
a very plain dress in 
contrast with that of the 
official or the noble. 
From a MS. in the 
National Library, Paris. 



226 



Business Life 



wonders of the Far East. Setting out with his father and brother 
(1271), he journeyed through the Orient for three and a half 
years, much of the time in cold and rainy weather. To the 
Polos, as well as to other men of the time, the East had been a 
mystery, a dream of an earthly Paradise. They hoped, as did 
Columbus two centuries later, to find a land " where the golden 
blossoms bloom upon the trees forever." Needless to say, the 
Polos did not find an earthly Paradise, but they found one great 
empire, embracing a large part of Asia, centering about China. 
They were received graciously at the court of the Great Khan, 
Kub'lai, who was especially fond of 
the young, gallant Marco. The Vene- 
tian industriously set about to learn the 
language and customs of this strange 
land. He won the confidence of Kublai 
and was sent to the most distant prov- 
inces on matters of public business. An 
observing young man, he carefully 
recorded the experiences of his travels 
in his " Book of Marvels," published 
upon his return. 

This work reflects most of all the 
splendors of Kublai, mightiest of earthly 
kings, " the lord of lords, ruler of so 
many cities, so many gardens, so many 
fishpools. ' ' He seems indeed like a king 
in a romance ; yet even his name might 
be forgotten before now, had he not welcomed these dusty 
travellers from the unknown. 

After seventeen years of honorable service the Polos longed to 
return home. In that time they had heard no news from their 
beloved city. Their relatives had long given them up for lost. 
With great reluctance the Khan bade them farewell. The 
return journey was hard and dangerous. They finally reached 
home, clad in rags and unable to speak their own tongue. It 
was not until they had ripped open the seams of these shabby 
Tartar clothes, and there had poured forth hundreds of precious 




Kublai Khan 

From an old Chinese ency- 
clopaedia. Polo says: "The 
great khan, lord of lords, 
named Kublai, is of middle 
stature, neither too full nor 
too short. He has a beautiful 
fresh complexion ; his color is 
fair, his eyes are dark." 



Venetian Trade 227 

jewels, that their relatives decided to recognize them. This great 
achievement is but one example of Venetian energy and ambition. 

238. Venetian Trade with the Far East. : — The Venetians 
hoped to engage their large merchant marine in the profitable 
eastern trade. The location of Venice was ideal for this purpose : 
situated on the Adriatic, she was nearer than Genoa to the 
Orient. Nearby were accessible mountain passes over the Alps 
to Germany and thence to the rest of Europe. The tastes of the 
westerners had developed through contact with the Orient, and 
they now demanded a greater variety of luxuries and in larger 
quantities. The Venetians wished to supply the increased 
demand for such goods as "silk and cotton, both raw and manu- 
factured into fine goods, indigo and other dyestuffs, aromatic 
woods and gums, narcotics and other drugs, pearls, rubies, dia- 
monds, sapphires, turquoises, and other precious stones; gold 
and silver ; and above all, the edible spices, pepper, ' ginger, 
cinnamon, cloves, and allspice." l 

In addition to the natural advantages of the Venetians, their 
character and environment were such as to ensure success. " A 
people, sturdy in the defence of its freedom, hardened by ex- 
cessive toil, expert in experience, skilful in the management of 
its own affairs, devoted to fixed ideals, faithful to the interests 
which it served, and favored by its situation, must assuredly 
win the highest degree of success." 2 

239. The Route through Alexandria. — Genoa had secured 
the monopoly of trade with Constantinople, and Venice was 
compelled to look elsewhere. She succeeded in opening the old 
route to India by way of Alexandria and the Red Sea. This 
proved to be a fortunate stroke, for in 1453 Constantinople, the 
guardian of western civilization, fell before the advancing Turks. 
These Moslem fanatics would not allow the hated infidels to use 
the land routes to the East. Christian merchants were slain 
in cold blood and their caravans confiscated. The opening of 
this route meant the end of Genoa's power, and she rapidly 
declined to a third-rate state. 

1 Cheyney, Industrial and Social History of England, 84. 

2 Morris, History of Colonization, I. 168. 



228 



Business Life 



Egypt, however, was still free from the Turks, and the entire 
trade with the East was now carried on through Alexandria. 
During the second half of the fifteenth century, therefore, 
Venice was at the height of her power. At home she had ex- 
panded territorially. Her population and wealth were greater 
than England's. While many individuals had become ex- 
tremely rich through trade and manufacturing, it is important to 




Venice in the Fifteenth Century 

A canal with gondolas and bridge. A cross has fallen into the water and is rescued 
by a monk, while the people all about are kneeling. From a painting. 

note that there was little or no poverty. Everyone was sure of 
employment and a chance to earn a living. Foreigners of 
moderate means were attracted by the opportunity to make 
fortunes, as their investments were sure to yield large profits. 
The people had little voice in the government, which was con- 
trolled by a few nobles. But they did not greatly care, for they 
were prosperous and therefore contented. 

240. The Decline of Venice. — Even the resources of Venice. 



Decline of Venice 



229 



however, failed to halt the mighty onrush of the Turks. One by 
one her colonies and finally Alexandria fell into the hands of the 
Moslems (15 17). Venice had been able to keep her rivals from 
trading in the Mediterranean. Meantime Portuguese and 
Spanish navigators, lured by the hope of wealth, had ventured 
on the unknown Atlantic and discovered an all-water route to the 
Indies. This enterprise Venice could not 
prevent, for on the vast ocean no monop- 
oly could exist : it was a case of every man 
for himself. 

Unfortunately for herself Venice failed 
to enter the ocean trade in competition 
with other nations, for there was room for 
all. Her prosperous and contented mer- 
chants did not understand that the Medi- 
terranean was no longer the centre of trade. 
They continued to pay ever larger tolls to 
the greedy Turks for the privilege of using 
the land route from India. Customers 
refused to accept their goods at the 
increased prices. Instead they had re- 
course to the Portuguese and Spaniards 
who carried their goods at a much lower 
rate. For the first time the cheapness of 
sea travel as against land travel was 
clearly demonstrated. That difference is 
evident to-day when we can send a ton of 
coal at less expense across the Atlantic 
than from Philadelphia to Trenton. All-sea travel was des- 
tined to win, and the days of Venice were past. 

241. Money and Banking. — It is interesting to know how 
men of the Middle Ages paid for the goods they bought. The 
known mines of the world were almost exhausted in antiquity ; 
before the end of the second century a.d. the amount of precious 
metals was already growing less. In the Middle Ages there 
was little money, and in fact little need of it. In most cases 
barter proved satisfactory. 




Doge (Duke) of Venice 

In his official robes and 
wearing the ducal crown. 
Thirteenth century. 
From 'Album historique.' 



230 Business Life 

For the payment of outside debts, however, as well as for the 
convenience of merchants and traders, each feudal lord coined 
money. There was no standard of value; coins were of dif- 
ferent size and weight and contained a varying percentage of 
alloy according to the whim of the coiner. It required the skill 
of an expert to appraise. the actual value of such money. To do 
this work and to make the exchange became the duty of a new 
class of bankers. During the early Middle Ages this business 
had been conducted chiefly by the Jews, as the Church forbade 
its members to charge interest on loans, for it considered such a 
transaction sinful. The enormous profits from this business, 
however, induced the best Christians to evade the law of the 
Church. Especially the wealthy Florentine 
manufacturers turned with great eagerness 
to this new line of business. Within a few 
years great banking, houses were established 
in every important business centre. They 
received deposits, made loans, exchanged 
money, and even extended credit to desirable 
customers. They outstripped all rivals. 
Venetian Coin Kings and nobles when in need of money 
Thirteenth century, for their wars or other purposes secured their 
From 'Album histo- loans frQm Florence p r i vate merchants 

nque. 

and traders were regular customers. In 
another place we shall see the effect of this prosperity upon 
the life of Florence (§ 246 f.). 

242. Changes in the Volume of Silver and Gold. — We have 
seen that the growth of commerce and the rise of a trading class 
brought about a great increase in the use of money. Toward 
the middle of the fifteenth century mines were discovered in 
Germany which produced over half a million dollars' worth of 
silver annually. On the other hand, Europe spent $8,000,000 
a year on goods purchased in the Orient. This was a great 
leakage, for the money that went to eastern merchants never 
returned, as Europe sold little to the Orient. The currency 
would have totally disappeared before 1525, and people once 
more would have returned to the primitive system of barter, 




Money and Commerce 231 

had no new supply been found. That supply lay in America, 
which was about to offer its gold and silver mines to a moneyless 
Europe. 

243. The Effects of Commerce. — The effects of commerce 
therefore were far-reaching in every activity of life. It exerted 
a powerful force in hastening the departure of the mediaeval 
order of things and in ushering in the modern civilization. It 
was commerce which built up the busy industrial towns, with 
their merchants who supported the national governments in 
their struggle against the decadent feudal nobles. This mer- 
chant-class was eventually to lead and to win in the struggle 
for the political, social, and religious rights which we to-day hold 
dear. By extending the use of money commerce raised the 
standard of living ; it put money into the hands of English serfs 
and bought their freedom. Commerce brought with it the 
wealth and leisure necessary to the production of the best art 
and literature. Finally it was the rivalry of commerce which 
induced navigators to seek a short route to India. That route 
they never found, but they accomplished a far greater service 
to mankind in discovering and developing the New World in 
which we live to-day. 

Syllabus of Mediaeval Life 

I. General conditions; prevalence of country life and of agricul- 
ture; lack of commerce and industry; causes of these condi- 
tions. 

II. Trie castle. 

1. Situation and construction; defences; supply of provisions 

and of water; unfortified manor-houses. 

2. Life within ; poor furnishings ; slow growth of comfort ; oc- 

cupations of the lord ; training of the knight ; chivalry ; 
minstrels ; education and occupations of women. 

III. The estate and the peasants. 

1. Classes of dependents ; village; church, dwellings, and shops. 

2. The land; three-field system and its defects; products. 

3. Long continuance of serfdom. 

IV. Monasteries. 

1. Economic value; reclaiming of waste land; model farms. 

2. New orders of monks; the friars and their activities. 



232 Business Life 

3. Centres of learning ; opposition to pagan literature ; author- 

ship and the copying of old books ; exclusive use of Latin. 

4. Mediaeval attitude of mind : prevalence of faith over reason ; 

belief in miracles, ready acceptance of myths ; liability to 
deception ; alchemy and astrology. 

5. Scholasticism: authority preferred to evidence; use of 

Bible and of Christian fathers ; Aristotle ; Thomas Aquinas 
and theology. 

V. Universities. 

1. Origin; corporation of teachers ; University of Paris, Bologna, 

etc. 

2. Faculties and curriculum ; seven liberal arts ; law, medicine, 

theology. 

3. Students ; organization ; manner of life. 

VI. Buildings: guild halls and town halls; Gothic churches; fea- 
tures and interpretation. 

VII. Markets and fairs. 

1. Place; gathering of merchants ; tolls; sale of goods. 

2. Social features. 

VIII. Travel. 

1. By land; difficulties; poor roads, insecurity ; excessive tolls. 

2. By water; its advantages ; the compass; piracy. 

IX. The Hanseatic league : object, composition, success. 

X. Commercial centres in the South. 

1. Constantinople; Genoa. 

2. Venice: origin and growth ; enterprise of its citizens ; Marco 

Polo ; trade with Far E;.st ; imports ; the route through 
Alexandria and the Turks ; decline of her trade. 

XL Money and banking; barter; gradual increase in quantity of 
money ; supply from America ; lending at interest ; bank- 
ing hc-Uces : Florence a financial centre. 
XII. Effects of commerce : breaking down of mediaeval conditions 
and promotion of modern forms of life. 

Topics for Reading 

I. The Manor and its People. — Robinson, Readings, I. 399-406 ; 
Allsop, Introduction to English Industrial History, 7-27; Innes, 
England's Industrial Development, ch. iii ; Gibbins, Industry in Eng- 
land, ch. iv. ; Hayes, Political and Social History of Modern Europe, 
I. 28-36 (includes decline of the system). 

II. Towns and Guilds. — Allsop, 59-76; Innes, ch. v; Gibbins, 
ch. vi; Hayes, I. 36-49. 



Studies 233 

III. Student Life. — Ogg, Source-Book, 341-59 ; Munro and Sellery, 
Medieval Civilization, 348-57; Rashdall, Universities of Europe in 
the Middle Ages, II. ch. xiv; Lacroix, Science and Literature in the 
Middle Ages and at the Renaissance, 22-40. 

IV. Monks and Monasteries. — Henderson, Historical Documents 
of the Middle Ages, 274-314 (rule of St. Benedict) ; Munro and Sellery, 
129-58 ; Luchaire, Social Life in France in the Time of Philip Augustus, 
ch. vii ; Jessop, Coming of the Friars, ch. iii ; Taylor, Classical Heritage 
of the Middle Ages, ch. vii ; Richards, History of German Civilization, 
ch. xiii ; Putnam, Books and their Makers during the Middle Ages, I. 16 ff. 

Additional Studies 

1. Comment on the topics of the syllabus in their order. 2. Write 
an essay on one of the Reading Topics. 3. Review the decline of the 
Roman empire, summarizing the causes. What is the connection be- 
tween that subject and the condition described in § 212? 4. Did the 
Romans of the late empire have any kind of castle? 5. Why was the 
castle so poorly furnished? Did not the people of the time like com- 
forts and luxuries? 6. Trace the origin of the serf class from late 
Roman conditions. 7. Contrast the three-field system with the present 
system of agriculture. 8. Contrast the amount and kind of knowledge 
existing in the Middle Ages with that of Roman times. How do you 
account for the difference ? Which is more nearly like ours, the Roman 
or the mediaeval? 9. Point out all the differences you can discover 
between the Parthenon and the Gothic cathedral by comparing the 
illustrations. 10. How do you account for the growth of towns and 
of industry and commerce? n. Is there anything in the industries 
to-day that could be compared with the guild? 12. Why were there 
more robbers and pirates in the Middle Ages than there are to-day? 
13. From this chapter what do you conclude as to the area of the world 
known to the Italians or the Germans? 14. What advantages came 
to the Italians from the journey of Marco Polo? 15. Why did Genoa 
and Venice, rather than London, take the lead in commerce? 16. What 
has the growth of commerce contributed to civilization? 



BOOK III 
TEE MODERN WORLD 

CHAPTER XVII 

THE RENAISSANCE 

From the fourteenth to the sixteenth century l 

244. From Mediaeval to Modern Times. — Movements of 
progress and decline are continuous. Changes take place so 
gradually that it is impossible to say precisely when an old 
condition has passed away and a new state of affairs has come 
in. In the preceding pages we have learned that the beginnings 
of the modern world reach far back into mediaeval life. It 
is impossible therefore to determine exactly where the dividing 
line between these two ages should be drawn. In the chapter 
above, the manorial system is distinctly mediaeval; and the 
same may be said of the rudiments of trade ; but in tracing the 
fuller development of commerce we have undoubtedly crossed 
the line. The whole Ren-ais-sance' is decidedly modern; 
so that from this point of time our study will lie within the 
modern age. 

245. Cities a Force in Civilization. — In the preceding chap- 
ter we have seen the remarkable growth of cities through com- 
merce and industry. During all the past the city has been an 
important means of progress, as it has afforded to mankind a 
world of opportunities. The man of genius is welcomed there 
and finds scope for putting his ideas into practice ; his ambition, 

1 The sequence of chs. xvi-xx is based upon historical connection rather than 
upon mere chronology. 

234 



An Italian City 



235 



too, is rewarded with money and power. Those who seek knowl- 
edge find the best facilities for study in the city. Within its 
bounds thousands inspire one another with the contact of their 
personalities to supreme efforts in trade, invention, and art. 

246. Florence. — In the fourteenth century there were many 
such cities in northern Italy, each with its own customs and 
government. The most brilliant was Florence. 1 Her people 
were active and energetic like the Americans of to-day. They 
were men, too, of remarkable individuality, and of this fact they 
were proud. It was a Florentine who remarked that " twelve 
of them would never come 
together who were of one 
and the same opinion." 
They were strikingly orig- 
inal, ever seeking some- 
thing new. Unfortunately 
this restlessness, extending 
to politics, resulted in con- 
stant broils and uprisings 
against the party in power. 
Although the city was a 
republic, the leaders of the 
party opposed to the gov- 
ernment were often driven 
into exile. In spite of this 
defect the Florentine was 
patriotic at a time when 
that virtue was almost unknown to the rest of Europe. His 
ardent love for country deserves our admiration. . 

247. Daily Life in Florence. — The daily life of this people 
presents to our view a happy picture. We see here no caste 
system like that of the Middle Ages, in which the classes of 
society live far apart, each ruled by its own customs and code 




1 Among the other cities of Italy like Florence in character, but differing in size 
and importance, were Milan, Genoa, Pisa, Siena, Rome, and Naples. Florence 
is here chosen as a type. For these cities, see Hayes, Political and Social Hist, oj 
Modem Europe, I. 14 fi. 



236 



Renaissance 



of honor. All citizens mingled in a democratic spirit. Family 
life was the heart of Florentine society. Marriage was a sacred 
institution, whose bonds were not to be trifled with ; for Florence 
was a Catholic city where divorce was forbidden. Yet we may 
safely say that as a rule marriages were happy. Everywhere 
we see warm affection between husband, wife, and children. 
Unless well-to-do, every member of the family was accustomed 
to hard work and thrift. A man with 
fourteen children writes : " The boys 
I sent to school to have them learn 
arithmetic and correct writing ; then 
I placed them in trade. Servants I 
have none. My wife, not healthy, 
sewed the trousers for the boys, and 
had the cloth sent from Prato for 
economy." 

248. The Women of Florence. — 
For the most part Florentine women 
received the same education as men 
and were highly respected. They 
were accused, however, of extrava- 
gance in their dress, of " wearing too 
many ornaments of precious jewels. 
Likewise they had dresses cut of sev- 
eral kinds of cloth and silk, with puffs 
of various kinds, and with fringes of 
pearls, and little buttons of gold and 
silver, often of four or five rows 
together. They wore also various strings of pearls and pre- 
cious stones. In the same manner they gave expensive enter- 
tainments and wedding parties." 

As a rule, however, they made good housewives. They were 
excellent cooks, and under their management meals were simple 
but tastily prepared. They kept their houses neat and clean 
in days when soap and water were not appreciated throughout 
Europe. They were orderly, too, and were the first to introduce 
bookkeeping and business methods into households. 




A Florentine Woman 

From a fresco in a church at 
Florence. 



Society 237 

* 249. The Business Man. — The Florentine business man, 
not overfond of the city, preferred to spend a great part of his 
time on his beautiful country estate. Here he could hunt and 
fish to his heart's desire. If he were a man of culture, he might 
bask in the company of his learned guests. After dinner guests 
and host enjoyed music, dancing, and games of all kinds. 
These people knew no affectation, and hospitality was extended 
to all friends regardless of business or station. Social events 
were hilarious, for the Florentine was lively and bright. Rich 
and poor alike enjoyed the company of fellow human-beings to 
the fullest extent. 

250. Festivities. — This democratic spirit is best shown 
in their love of festivals. Most joyous of all and most royally 
celebrated was the marriage feast. Here for the first time the 
young girl, educated in the convent, could mingle with men. 
The most brilliant of these affairs was perhaps the marriage 
of Clarice Or-si'ni to Lorenzo de' Med'i-ci. On this occasion 
the father of the groom played host to the townspeople. " The 
festivities commenced on a Sunday and continued till noon 
Tuesday, during which time practically the whole city was 
feasted by the Medici. Presents in immense quantities came 
in, not only from personal friends, but from towns and villages 
subject to Florence : among them eight hundred calves and two 
thousand pairs of chickens. Feasting, dancing, and music con- 
tinued day and night, until one wonders at the endurance of the 
people. . . . There were consumed of sweetmeats alone 5000 
pounds ; and in the house of Carlo de' Medici, who entertained 
the townspeople, were one hundred kegs of wine consumed 
daily." 1 

Church holidays and the birthday of the patron saint of the 
guild were celebrated by festivities. The height of hilarity was 
reached in the few days before Lent when carnival was held. 
Those were days filled with good eating, drinking, and unlimited 
fun. There were pageants with artistic floats and other formal 
events. But the favorite sport of the young men was that of 
going about the city, barring the narrow streets with long poles. 

1 Scaife, Florentine Life during the Renaissance, 95. 



2 3 8 



Renaissance 



No one could pass without paying a toll. Other crowds of 
youths made their way along the streets tossing footballs into 
the stores to the great confusion of the shopkeepers. For the 
most part, however, this sport was taken good-naturedly. Others 
preferred to play football. Those who were less energetic con- 
tested at chess or joined the brilliant throngs which went to the 
horse races. The least formal amusement was music — an art 
which the Florentine loved most of all. 
On a warm evening the visitor to the 
city could see many a little group of 
mandolin and guitar players. Anyone, 
whether acquaintance or stranger, was 
warmly welcomed, if only he could play 
or sing. We have too few of such 
whole-souled pleasures in the more 
artificial life of to-day. 

251. Government. — In the republic 
of Florence all citizens were eligible to 
vote and hold office. As a matter of 
fact the public at large did not have 
the training necessary to govern; and 
the important offices, those of mayor 
and alderman, were striven for by a 
few merchant families. For a long 
time the Medici triumphed over their 
rivals. They succeeded best in dazzling 
the populace by fair promises and flat- 
tery, for the Florentines were easily 
swayed and liked to be complimented. 
Rulers invariably used their office 
to swell their fortunes. Lorenzo de' 
Medici, for example, was wont to make a common fund of 
his private money and the state treasury. Other officials 
found it more convenient to manipulate the market of state 
securities, and thus fill the family coffers. We must not think 
too ill of the Florentines, however, for even to-day the official 
is judged too often by success rather than by honesty. Occa- 




Florentine Magistrate 

Sixteenth century. He 
wears a turban hat, an em- 
broidered robe reaching the 
knee, and over it a sleeveless 
coat. From 'Album histo- 
rique.' 



Public Buildings 



239 



sionally in Florence there were sweeping investigations with 
punishment for the guilty. In public opinion, however, the crime 
was not so much in doing a corrupt deed as in being found out. 

252. City Improvements. — The city was well-governed 
in spite of this cor- 
ruption, for her offi- 
cials were sincerely 
patriotic. " Each 
political party when 
in power did its 
utmost to beautify 
the city and increase 
its greatness in the 
eyes of the world, 
continuing the work 
done by its political 
rival ; the unfortu- 
nate exiles dreamed 
of the bliss of again 
beholding their 
' beautiful Florence,' 
and were ready to 
offer up wealth, life, 
and sometimes even 
honor itself in order 
to return. As a 
modern Florentine 
has well said : ' They 
were citizens first, 
then private individ- 
uals ; and they recog- 
nized in every glory 
of their city a family interest.' " 1 

Before the middle of the thirteenth century the streets of their 
city were paved and drained, at a time when those of London 
and Paris were in worse condition than the country roads. 

1 Scaife, Florentine Life during the Renaissance, 62. 




The Cathedral of Florence 

The front. Begun in 1296 and consecrated in 
1436, at that date the largest church in Italy. Since 
that time it has been improved and the present facade 
dates from 1875-87. The Campanile, bell tower, to 
our right, is a separate work. From a photograph. 



240 



Renaissance 



There were sewers, too, which in those days were a municipal 
luxury. In an attempt to banish the darkness of night, citizens 
were requested to keep lights burning in their windows. Little 
oil lamps were hung outside at intervals, and a penalty was 
imposed upon any who should disturb them. 

253. Splendid Build- 



ings. — The visitor to the 
" city of flowers " may 
still see the splendid 
buildings of this period. 
Among them all the cathe- 
dral is justly the most 
famous, with its aisles and 
nave and cloisters, its 
cupola, and huge dome. 
It required a century and 
a half to complete this 
grand structure. Its cre- 
ators had intended that 
man should never under- 
take anything whatsoever 
more vast and more beau- 
tiful. Truly it embodies 
the soul of Florence. 

Of the civic buildings 
the best known is the 
Pa-laz'zo Vec'chi-o, " Old 
Palace " — the city hall. 
" From its lofty bell tower 
still peal forth the deep- 
toned voices of the an- 
cient bells, which, accord- 
ing to the manner of their ringing, either announced the time of 
day, or summoned the officials to their duties, or called the citizens 
unarmed to the consideration of municipal affairs ; or with arms 
in hand, brought them together for the defense of their city." l 

1 Scaife, Florentine Life during the Renaissance, 7. 




The Old Palace, Florence 

Palazzo Vecchio, like a castle in structure, 
with battlements and a high tower. Built 
about 1300 and for a long time the seat of 
government, still serving as the city hall. From 
a photograph. 



Charity, Education 241 

It is perhaps unfair to cite examples, for the entire city was 
attractive. This condition was largely due to the fact that 
private homes were built with an eye to beauty as well as to 
comfort and utility. 

254. Beginnings of Organized Charity. — During the Middle 
Ages people had little chance to care for the needs of their 
neighbors. They were not naturally hard-hearted but were 
engaged in a struggle for existence, and the majority were fortu- 
nate if they succeeded in keeping the wolf from their own doors. 
In Florence, however, there were many citizens who saw that 
poverty was a serious misfortune to their state. They were 
religious ; they loved humanity, and pitied the less fortunate. 
At the same time they were wealthy.. They formed volunteer 
associations, accordingly, and gave their time and money to the 
sick and needy. From this effort rose permanent hospitals. 
In generosity Florence would in fact compare favorably with a 
modern American city. 

255. Education. — A Florentine once said : " Good examples 
are born of good education." It was a recognized fact that 
the future of the state depended largely on the training of the 
young generation. The city provided accordingly for the educa- 
tion of her children and at an early age they were taught reading, 
writing, and grammar. Early in the fifteenth century a uni- 
versity was founded, free of expense to all who cared to study 
there. It is worth noting that the professors were well paid and 
in high social standing. In fact there was every inducement to 
attract men of the highest intellectual worth. 

The university drew students from all parts of the world. 
Here they could study theology, philosophy, logic, eloquence, 
physics, church law and civil law, architecture, sculpture, and 
painting. Great interest was shown in anatomy, surgery, and 
medicine — sciences then in their infancy. The effects of this 
broad training can hardly be overestimated. 

During the winter there was little but hard work. The 
student wore a plain regulation dress, made of cheap woollen 
stuff, which was called the " cloth of honesty." In the 
spring, however, came the close of the college year, and the 



242 



Renaissance 



young graduates received their degrees amid great pomp and 
ceremony. 

256. Student Diversions. — Strange as it may seem to us, 
the time of greatest festivity for the student was during the 
period of his final examinations. Just before his last examina- 
tion, " which was public, the candidate went about the city on 
horseback, accompanied by the beadles of the university and 
by some of his fellow students, to invite his friends to the cere- 
mony. He hired trumpeters and fifers for the day ; and if he 
passed the examination, he came out from it preceded by the 
musicians, and accompanied by his friends to whom he offered 

an entertainment, the 
nature of which was, 
according to his fortune, 
a collation, a fete, a play, 
or a joust." l 

257. The Encourage- 
ment of Culture. — Con- 
ditions at Florence, as we 
have seen, were favorable 
to a revival of literature 
and art. True, her citi- 
zens were not scholars, 
but they yearned for the 
finer things of life rather than for material comforts and 
luxuries. To men of learning they offered tempting encourage- 
ment — money, the use of their private libraries, and high 
social position. Wealthy men in other cities and even in far-off 
countries followed this example in their zeal to outbid one an- 
other for the services of scholars. 

258. Petrarch (1304-1373) ; Early Life. — Of all these scholars 
Pe'trarch was by far the greatest. He naively tells us of him- 
self : "In my prime I was blessed with a quick and active 
body, although not exceptionally strong ; and while I do not lay 
claim to remarkable personal beauty, I was comely enough in 
my best days. I was possessed of a clear complexion, lively 

1 Scaife, Florentine Life during the Renaissance, 115. 




A Sculptor's Studio 



At work on the statue of a child. From a relief 
in a Florentine church. 



Petrarch 243 

eyes, and for long years a keen vision, which however deserted 
me, contrary to ray hopes, after I reached my sixtieth birthday 
and forced me to my great annoyance, to resort to glasses." 
His parents, of old Florentine stock, advised him to learn law 1 
but he refused to acquire an art which he " would not 
practice dishonestly, and could hardly hope to exercise, 
otherwise." 2 Returning to the country, he composed many 
delightful sonnets. Such was his genius that while still a 
young man he was crowned with the laurel wreath by the 
Senate of Rome. 

259. Petrarch as a Reformer. — It was not until later years 
that Petrarch became a reformer, the enemy of ignorance and 
superstition. He sought to uproot the worship of Aristotle, 
declaring that " he was but a man and therefore . . . many 
things may have escaped him. ... I am confident beyond a 
doubt that he was in error all his life, not only as regards small 
matters . . . but in the most mighty questions where his 
supreme interests were involved." 3 

To learn the best that had been said and thought during the 
world's history Petrarch had to go back to the Greek and Latin 
classics. Laboriously he searched obscure places for remnants 
of Latin authors. He became steeped in their life, thought, 
and emotions. He believed that after regaining the knowledge 
of the ancients, the world might once more move forward. 
Greek literature, however, had disappeared from the West. 
He could not even find a teacher from whom to learn the rudi- 
ments of the language. 

260. The Humanists. — Fortunately Petrarch's influence 
was to live; for his personal charm and remarkable intellect 
made him the hero of the age. He corresponded with kings and 
scholars in all parts of Europe — men who were looking for 
sound knowledge and broader views of life. Many accepted 
his judgment that they might find the essence of human wisdom 
in the classics. 

Under the guidance of these lovers of the classics, or " human- 
ists " as they are called, many of the choicest gems of ancient 

1 Robinson and Rolfe, Petrarch, 60. 2 Ibid., 67. 3 Ibid., 39. 



244 



Renaissance 



literature were recovered. The study of Greek went on; the 
enthusiasm of the Italians and generous pay attracted teachers 
from Constantinople — the home of Greek culture since the 
collapse of the Roman empire. When that city fell into the 

hands of the Turks (1453), 
Italy took her place as the 
guardian of classical civili- 
zation. 

261. Art; Raphael 
(1483-1520). — The love 
of the beautiful which per- 
vaded the Greek world 
appealed to the artistic 
sense of the Italians. 
The painters of the six- 
teenth century, like those 
of the Middle Ages, con- 
tinued to treat of religious 
subjects. Their work, 
however, was no longer 
stiff and unnatural but 
lifelike, reflecting the 
beauties of nature. There 
were a score of artists of 
this period whose work 
has not been equalled 
since ; but they had one 
and all to pay homage to 
their master, Raph'a-el. 
Even as a simple country 
youth he was loved by all who knew him. People were 
attracted by his sad, quiet air and by his tender and sympa- 
thetic nature. His countless Madonnas — the work of his early 
life — have won the heart of succeeding ages, for they seem to 
reflect the beauty of his own character. While he was still a 
young man, too, he was engaged to decorate with paintings 
the walls of several rooms in the Vatican, which was the pope's 




The Sistine Madonna 

In the painting from which this picture is 
taken St. Mary with her child Jesus is the 
centre of a group. It is named after San Sisto 
(Pope Sixtus II), whose figure is in the painting. 
The picture is the work of Raphael's later years 
and is wonderfully beautiful. Now in the 
Dresden Gallery. 



Art 



245 



most sumptuous palace. Visitors rapturously admire the fresh- 
ness and the beauty of these paintings. 

262. Michaelangelo (1475-1564). — An equal genius was 
Mi-chael-an'ge-lo, who at the age of fifteen left his home, where 
a sickly mother and many selfish and worthless brothers de- 
spised him for his love of art. The stranger was welcomed at the 
home of Lorenzo de' Medici. Here he could associate with men 
of his class, with famous scholars, philosophers, artists, and poets. 
His greatest task was undoubtedly the decoration of the walls 
and ceiling of the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican. He was essen- 
tially a creator, who wrought with 
intense energy and allowed his 
imagination full sway. His works 
were not only beautiful, but origi- 
nal in conception, and many of 
them impress us with their tremen- 
dous power. The most awe-inspir- 
ing is the " Last Judgment " on a 
wall of the Sistine Chapel. Many 
critics consider him at his best as 
a sculptor. In that field his colos- 
sal statue of David in marble is his 
most admired work. There are 
many other Italian artists and 
authors whose work, inspired by 
Greek models, express the beautiful 
in man and nature. 

263. Architecture. — Equally great strides were made in ar- 
chitecture. Here, too, the Italians went back to classical time for 
their models. The Roman basilica (§ 118), more or less modified, 
became a Christian church. In its simplest form the interior 
was accordingly an oblong hall with nave separated from aisles 
by rows of columns supporting the roof. The exterior was plain, 
and a square bell- tower — the cam-pan-il'e — was often added. 
This tower either formed a part of the building or stood entirely 
detached. 

From this simple plan developed one more complex in the 




Raphael 
Painted by himself. 



246 



Renaissance 



form of a cross, with the centre surmounted by a dome. The 
most stupendous example of this form is the Church of St. Peter 
at Rome. It is an interesting fact that 
the Italian architect devoted his most 
careful attention to the interior, aiming 
to convey an impression of vast spatial 
proportion and harmony. The best 
effect was given when the form was that 
of a Greek cross, for then the eye could 
include the whole in- 
terior at a single 
glance. Any kind of 
basilica lent itself 
readily to interior 
ornamentation ; and 
the vast size and 
costly decoration of 
St. Peter's, the cen- 
tral shrine of Catho- 
lic Christianity, 
impress the visitor 
with the colossal 
power and wealth of 
the Church in the 
period in which this 
building was erected 
(1452-1626). 
264. Copernicus (1473-1543). — In other 
fields, too, man's activities were seeking new 
channels. Co-per'ni-cus, a quiet monk of 
scholarly habits, took a deep interest in scien- 
tific matters. Opposing the old belief that 
the earth was the centre of the universe, he 
proved that our globe is nothing more than 
one of several planets which revolve about 
the sun. This faot had been known to the Greeks (§91) but 
had long been forgotten. As can be imagined, people thought 




Christ 

The central figure in the 
Last Judgment, painted by 
Michaelangelo. Christ is 
seated on a great white 
throne, and is represented 
as a man of tremendous 
strength. 




David 

Colossal statue in 
marble by Michael- 
angelo, a work of his 
youth. David is on 
the point of attacking 
Goliath, and the per- 
fect control of his great 
strength is admirable. 
Academy of Fine Arts, 
Florence. 



Science 



247 



it strange that the solid earth with its trees and houses was 
spinning about like a top and rushing around the sun at the rate 
of nineteen miles a second ! The idea was too wonderful even 
to dream of ; and it was not well understood till long after the 
death of the discoverer. 

265. Galileo (1 564-1642) ; his Discoveries in Physics. — 
A worthy successor to 
Copernicus was found 
in Gal-i-le'o. His 
father was a merchant 
who wanted him to 
study medicine because 
it was the only profes- 
sion that paid well. 
At the university he 
showed his natural 
inclination toward 
science. " While he 
was praying one day in 
the Cathedral, like the 
good Catholic he was 
all his life, his attention 
was arrested by the 
great lamp, which, after 
lighting it, the verger 
had left swinging to 
and fro. Galileo pro- 
ceeded to time its 
swings by the only 
watch he possessed — 
his own pulse. He 
noticed that the time of swing remained, as near as he could 
tell, the same, notwithstanding the fact that the swings were 
growing smaller and smaller." l This was an important dis- 
covery, for upon the principle involved in it all pendulum 
clocks are based. 

1 Lodge, Pioneers of Science, 86. 




Tower of Pisa 
From a photograph. 



248 Renaissance 

In his methods Galileo was modern; he sought to discover 
great truths, as do scholars of to-day, by observation and experi- 
ment. In his time intelligent people believed that a hundred- 
pound weight would fall a hundred times as fast as a one-pound 
weight. They supposed, perhaps wrongly, that this was the 
teaching of Aristotle. Undoubtedly it seemed logical to them, 
and they continued to believe it though they had never made an 
actual test of its truth. Yet one morning before the assembled 
University of Pisa, Galileo ascended the famous leaning tower, 
taking with him a hundred-pound shot and a one-pound shot. 
He balanced them on the edge of the tower and let them drop. 
They struck the ground together, and a great scientific truth 
was established. 

266. His Discoveries in Astronomy. — A few years later he 
took a small organ pipe, placed a lens in both ends, one convex, 
the other concave. This combination gave him the first tele- 
scope, though of very crude character, which made objects 
appear three times as large as their actual size. Afterward he 
ground more accurate lenses for a telescope which would magnify 
fifty times. With this instrument he proceeded to study the 
heavens. In these investigations he found that the moon in 
some respects is like the earth, and that the earth shines like the 
moon. He discovered, too, the satellites of the planet Jupiter. 
This event aroused a storm of protest from the scholars who 
were blinded by ignorance and tradition. In the old-fashioned 
mediaeval way they argued: "There are seven windows in the 
head, two nostrils, two eyes, two ears, and a mouth . . . from 
which we gather that the number of planets is necessarily seven. 
Moreover the satellites are invisible to the naked eye, and there- 
fore have no influence on the earth, and therefore would be 
useless, and therefore would not exist. Besides, the Jews and 
other ancient nations, as well as modern Europeans, have 
adopted the division of the week into seven days. If the num- 
ber of planets were increased, this system would fall to pieces." 

Galileo was a firm believer in the Copernican theory and 
explained its principles to thousands of eager listeners. In 
doing so he attacked the arguments of the theologians and 



Astronomy, Printing 



249 



even contended openly against the authority of the Scriptures 
in scientific matters. Finally he was brought to trial by the 
Inquisition (§ 191) on the charge of heresy, but a threat of im- 
prisonment induced him to promise not to teach such doctrines. 
For sixteen years all went well. Then, unmindful of his promise, 
he once more appeared as the vigorous supporter of the Coper- 
nican system. At the age of seventy he was compelled to go 
through a rigorous and prolonged cross-examination. Faced 
by torture and a threat of burning at the stake, the old man lost 
his courage and signed a 
statement agreeing to the 
immobility of the earth. 
The story goes that after 
putting down his pen, he was 
heard to murmur, " And yet 
it moves." By sheer force, 
accordingly, the progress of 
knowledge in this direction 
was temporarily checked. 

267. Inventions. — Inven- 
tions, too, were to play a 
great part in the breaking 
up of the old order. The 
mariner's compass insured 
safety at sea and made easier 
the discovery of the new 
world. The telescope, as 
stated above, has made it possible for us to see other worlds. 
Gunpowder rendered insecure the mighty feudal strongholds, 
made the peasant with a gun superior to the knight with his 
heavy armor, and gave the death-blow to feudalism (§ 270). 

Of all inventions, however, printing is certainly the most 
beneficial to mankind. Victor Hugo has called it the " greatest 
event in history." Its origin is obscure, but tradition credits 
Gu'ten-berg, a native of Mainz, Germany, with perfecting the 
movable letters which we call " type." He established the first 
printing press, too, about the middle of the fifteenth century. 




Gutenberg's Printing Press 

With examples of books printed by it. 
The method of working is evident. From 
a drawing. 



250 Renaissance 

Before the end of the same century there were in existence fifty 
presses, which were located in important cities, and which had 
already produced a vast number of books. The effect was far- 
reaching. No longer was learning confined to the clergy and 
the wealthy. No longer did one have to go to a monastery or 
university to make use of a library, as in the days when books 
were few and expensive. People were freed forever from depend- 
ence on the mediaeval classroom with its narrow atmosphere. 
All who could read could afford to buy books. The result was 
an extension of knowledge and a rise in the average intelligence 
of Europe. 

268. Results of the Renaissance. — From what has been said 
above it is clear that the greatest effect of the Renaissance was 
upon man himself. He broke loose from tradition, which had 
bound him tightly for centuries. In the East explorers found 
another religion which could exist with a high civilization. The 
Great Khan (§ 237) said : " We have a law from God delivered 
by our divines, and we do all they tell us. You Christians have 
a law from God through your prophets and you do not do it." 
Such knowledge made men more liberal. Many things, too, 
had happened which gave them increased confidence in their 
own powers. As they began to think of things outside the sphere 
of the Church, they made the important discoveries and inven- 
tions described above. Man no longer thought of life as a period 
of probation, in which he had to bear endless burdens patiently 
in the obscurity to which Providence had consigned him. In- 
stead, there now appeared to him new desires, the ambition to 
raise himself above his fellows, and to seek his reward, not in a 
future life, but in the approval of future generations. 

Topics for Reading 

I. Economy and Social Conditions. — Hayes, Political and Social 
History of Modem Europe, I. ch. ii; Marchant, Commercial History , 78- 
112; Cunningham, Western Civilisation, II. 138-224; Lindsay, His- 
tory of the Reformation, I. 79-113 ; Burckhardt, Renaissance, II. 109-75 ; 
Cambridge Modern History, I. ch. xv ; Scaife, Florentine Life, chs. iv-ix. 

II. Printing and the Earliest Printers. — Putnam, Books and their 
Makers during the Middle Ages, I. 348-402 ; Hayes, I. 177-80. 



Studies 251 

III. Lucca della Robbia. — Vasari, Lives of Seventy of the Most 
Eminent Painters and Architects, I. 160-76; Pater, Renaissance, 65-74. 

IV. Sculpture. — Field, Introduction to the Study of the Renaissance, 
ch. vii; Reinach, Apollo, 120-29. 

V. Raphael. — Reinach, Apollo, 191-201 ; Hoppin, Great Epochs in 
Art History, 95-108; Berenson, Central Italian Painters: " Raphael "; 
Robinson, Readings, I. 536 f. 

VI. Architecture. — Field, ch. vi ; Statham, A Short Critical 
History of Architecture, ch. iv, vi; Reinach, 106-19. 

VII. Venice. — Cambridge Modem History, I. ch. viii ; Pater, 
Renaissance, 101-34 (Da Vinci). 

VIII. Erasmus. — Gasquet, Eve of the Reformation, ch. vi ; Stone, 
Reformation and Renaissance, ch. v ; Robinson, Readings, II. 41-6 ; 
Emerton, Erasmus, see Contents. 

IX. Galileo. — Marmery, Progress of Science, 100-102 ; Williams, 
History of Science, II. 76-92. 

Review 

1. Explain the division between mediaeval and modern history. 
Is it a question of time or of the condition and activities of mankind? 
2. In what ways do cities stimulate the growth of civilization? 3. 
Describe from the map the location of Florence. For what were this 
city and her people distinguished? 4. Describe their daily life. 5. 
Give an account of the condition and activities of the women. 6. 
Describe the relaxations of the business men. 7. Describe the festivi- 
ties and holidays. 8. What was the character of the government? 
of the magistrates? 9. What was done to improve the city? 10. 
Mention some of the buildings. What are they severally noted for? 
n. What was done in behalf of charity? What was remarkable in 
this effort? 12. Describe the elementary education; the advanced 
education. 13. What were the diversions of students? 14. What 
encouragements were given to culture? 15. Give an account of the 
early life and character of Petrarch. 16. What reforms did he under- 
take? 17. Define the humanists. What did Italy receive from Con- 
stantinople? 18. In what respect did the painters of the age improve 
upon mediaeval art? Describe the character of Raphael. Mention 
some of his works. 19. Who was Michaelangelo ? Mention and 
describe some of his works. 20. What are the distinguishing features 
of the architecture of this age ? Explain basilica ; campanile ; St. 
Peter's. 21. Give an account of Copernicus and his discoveries. 22. 
Who was Galileo? What discoveries in physics did he make? 23. 
What were his astronomical teachings, and with what obstacles did 
they meet? 24. What were the great inventions of the age? What 
intellectual advantages did the people gain through any of them? 25. 
Summarize the results of the Renaissance. 



252 Renaissance 

Additional Studies 

1. In what way did the growth of cities help bring about the decline 
of feudalism? From a review of the past few chapters make a list 
of the causes of the decline of feudalism. 2. What were the political 
and economic conditions of the cities of northern Italy which encour- 
aged the growth of a brilliant civilization? 3. In what ways did 
Copernicus and Galileo continue the work of the Greek astronomers 
of the third century B.C.? 4. Why were these Italian astronomers 
able to make further progress in their science? 5. Why did the theo- 
logians oppose the advance of astronomical studies? 6. In what way 
did the printing press help democratize knowledge? 7. Why did 
scholars so long continue to write their works in Latin? What ad- 
vantages came from the use of the modern languages for literary and 
scientific purposes? S. For the future progress of the world why was 
a renewed study of the Greek and Latin authors necessary? 9. Com- 
pare the Roman basilica with that of the Renaissance. 10. Write 
an essay on one of the Reading Topics. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

ECONOMIC CHANGES IN THE PERIOD OF THE HUNDRED 
YEARS' WAR 

I337-I4S3 

I. The War and its Effects on France 

269. England a Nation. — In the early years of the four- 
teenth century England still consisted of hundreds of small 
districts, each with its local customs. Thus far there had 
been little that favored national unity. In those days people 
had no newspapers 1 to bring them into close touch with one 
another or to tell them how great they were, or how little. 
Their world was bounded at most by the county in which 
they lived. Gradually, however, towns began to grow up 
(§ 225) and to receive their charters from the king. It was 
only natural that the towns and the king should join forces 
in subduing their common enemy, the baron. Finally the 
king emerged triumphant, a ruler of all England. For the 
first time the people began to feel that they were a nation. 
The king was their idol ; and when he attempted to increase 
his dominion through conquest in France, the entire nation 
heartily supported him. 

270. Beginning of the Hundred Years' War. — Meantime 
the king of France had centralized his power by repressing 
the feudal lords (§§ 208 f., 211). His subjects, likewise con- 
scious of their nationality, flew to arms to repel the English 
invaders. This was the beginning of the long, intermittent 

1 Mention is here made of the newspaper because it proved an important factor 
in the intensification of nationalism (cf. § 388). The telegraph, telephone, and rail- 
way were introduced after nationality had well developed. 

. 253 



254 



Hundred Years' War 



struggle known as the Hundred Years' War. A large army of 
French knights met the invaders at Crecy (1346). The English 
force was small, and consisted chiefly of farmers, who served 
on foot and carried long bows. Holding such soldiers in con- 
tempt, the French knights charged in the hope of an easy 
victory; but the English archers shot great numbers down, 
and turned the rest to flight. This battle may be taken as 
typical of a new mode of warfare, in which feudalism, long 



/^w$) 




A Squire and a Crossbowman 

The squire is carrying his knight's halberd, an axe with long handle. The archer 
is drawing the string of his great bow by means of a crank. From ' Album historique.' 



decaying through other causes, received its death-blow; for 
the most splendid knights of Europe proved no match for 
archers drawn from the lowest class of free citizens. 

About this time, too, firearms began to be used in war. 
At first they were inefficient ; but in time they were so im- 
proved as to complete the ruin of the knights and of the feudal 
system. Henceforth common freemen, armed with guns, were 
to constitute the military power. 



France 



255 



Though Edward III, sovereign of England at that time, 
pretended to be king of France, he had little hope of ever making 
his claim good. Instead, therefore, of treating well the people 
of those districts which came into his power, he allowed his 
soldiers to seize their property, to burn their houses, and de- 
stroy their crops. He and his eldest son, the Black Prince, 
led their armies through most of France, everywhere plunder- 
ing and ravaging till they temporarily converted this fertile, 
prosperous country into a desert. The castles and the walled 
towns they could not take; and Frenchmen, looking upon 
the English invaders as * 

heartless savages, deter- 
mined never to yield. 

271 ; Joan of Arc. — 
The tide of victory ebbed 
and flowed at intervals, 
but for half a century the 
English gained territory. 
Finally they reached 
Or'le-ans. If they could 
take this great city, they 
had high hopes of com- 
pleting the conquest of 
the entire country. The 
French were discouraged. 

Charles, the Dauphin — heir to the throne — who should have 
led them to battle, gave himself up to pleasure and indolence. 

Meanwhile Joan of Arc, a French peasant girl, brooded long 
upon the wretched condition of her country, and her heart was 
filled with " pity for the realm of France." God, she said, 
had given her the task of defeating the English and of con- 
ducting Charles to Rheims, where according to custom the 
kings of the country received their crowns. At first no one 
would believe her story; but finally Charles, convinced that 
she had some extraordinary power, sent her with an army to 
the relief of Orleans. She gave the French what they needed 
— faith and enthusiasm. With great spirit they drove the 




Cannons in Action 

Besieging a city with mortars, fifteenth cen- 
tury. From a MS. in the National Library, 
Paris. 



256 



Hundred Years' 1 War 



English back from Orleans.' Then the inspired maid led the 
prince to Rheims, where he was crowned. Not many months 
afterward Joan fell into the hands of the enemy. The English 
condemned her as a witch and heretic, and burned her at the 
stake. Her countrymen, whom she had saved, made no effort 
in her behalf. After her death the 
French kept their courage, and gradu- 
ally expelled the English from the 
whole country with the exception of 
Cal-ais'. This was the end of the 
Hundred Years' War (1453). 

272. The Ravages of War; the 
Estates General. — France suffered 
dreadfully from the ravages of the war. 
The invaders seized or destroyed every- 
thing in their paths, killed many of 
the people, and left the rest to starve 
or to live in wretchedness. The farms 
were deserted, trade was destroyed, 
and the roads and streets were over- 
grown with weeds. Many years passed 
before the country resumed its normal 
appearance. Meanwhile the French 
estates general (§ 211), which corre- 
sponded to the English parliament, was 
gaining influence. The king, needing 
great sums of money for carrying on 
the war, knew that he could collect 
taxes more easily if he should secure 
beforehand the nation's consent to the levy. For this purpose he 
often summoned the estates general. While granting the levy, 
this body insisted on declaring how the money should be spent 
and on having a voice in other public affairs. The powers of 
the king, however, continued to increase; he forbade the 
nobles the exercise of their old right to levy and command 
armies. Instead he made one army for all France, commanded 
by officers whom he appointed. For the support of this national 




Joan of Arc 

With corselet and sword. 
Her helmet and gauntlets are 
at her right. Made by Prin- 
cess Marie of Orleans and 
erected in the city of Orleans. 
By permission of the Mentor. 



England 



257 




The Estates General 
Session of 1576. From a print in the National Library, Paris. 

army he persuaded the estates general (1439) to levy a perma- 
nent land tax. As he now had sufficient revenue, he rarely 
called the estates together thereafter ; and as a result the 
national assembly was for a long time discontinued. 

II. Great Economic and Social Changes in England 

273. The End of Serfdom in England. — Meanwhile the 
English peasant was beginning to shake off the bonds of serf- 
dom. When in financial difficulty, the lord preferred to receive 
cash payment rather than the usual feudal services from his 
tenant. As this system came more generally into use, it made 
the farmer independent. He still paid fees to his lord, but his 
time was free to spend on his own little farm. With the money 
thus received the landlord hired men to do the work on his 
estate. He engaged not only former serfs but strangers from 
outside the manor. In this way there grew up a large number 
of workmen who were dependent on wages. It was the first 
wage-earning class since Roman days. 

274. The Black Death (1348-1349). — While rural England 
was undergoing these changes the Black Death came. With 



2 5 8 



English Economy and Society 




Pillage of a Captured City 

Alost, 1382, Hundred Years' War. It shows the double line of walls supplied 
with round towers and gates, a few buildings, the deportation of plunder, and the 
slaughter of inhabitants. From a MS. of Froissart, 'Chroniques.' 

our skilled physicians and careful sanitation, we have little 
fear of epidemics. But plagues were not rare in those days. 
Coming from China, this mysterious pestilence reached Eng- 
land in the spring of 1348, and spread over the country so 
rapidly that before the following summer it had devastated 
all parts of the British Isles. 

The records of the various manors show us the number of 
deaths. In a certain manor in which ordinarily five tenants 
died annually we find that within eight months this pestilence 
swept away a hundred and seventy-two persons. Everywhere 
we hear the same story : high and low, rich and poor were alike 



After the Plague 259 

assailed. England was desolated; it is safe to say that more 
than one half of her population — men, women, and children 
— perished in that fatal year. 

275. Effects of the Plague. — From this gruesome condition 
there was soon to rise a new order of things, a better and more 
prosperous England. As laborers had become scarce, the 
fields were idle and there was a great demand for workmen. 
Those who survived were accordingly in a position to demand 
good pay for their services. Naturally the lords did not wish 
to increase wages, but they either had to yield or to allow their 
land to remain uncultivated; and such neglect would have 
resulted in a total loss. 

There was another reason for the rise in wages. As usually 
happened, famine followed the plague. The people of this 
time had no great warehouses in which to store food supplies 
against the time of need. Thus it came about that the un- 
harvested crop of the year 1349 caused an unusual shortage 
of grain. The price of food increased enormously, and the 
workingmen had to receive more for their labor or starve. 

276. The Statute of Laborers. — The landlords made strenu- 
ous efforts to avoid paying higher wages. They persuaded 
parliament to pass a law called the Statute of Laborers, which 
provided for the same scale of wages as before the pestilence. 
The laborer was also forbidden to travel from place to place 
to look for work. Violation of this law carried with it either 
imprisonment or a heavy fine. The judges took the side of 
the lords, declaring that it was unscrupulous in a person to 
turn another man's misfortune to his own profit. The bench's 
ignorance of the laws of supply and demand accordingly brought 
many hardships upon farmer and laborer, and a widening 
breach between rich and poor. 

The debts contracted by the state in the Hundred Years' 
War placed an added burden on the shoulders of the peasants. 
Taxes were laid upon imports and exports, and a heavy poll 
tax on every adult. 

277. The Peasants Prepare to Revolt. — The English peas- 
ant, unlike his cousin across the channel, was quick to resent 



260 English Economy and Society 

injustice. He had learned the dignity and power of labor and 
its importance in the life of the nation. In those days when 
magazines and newspapers were unknown, these ideas were 
spread throughout England by the poor priests and friars. 
Clad in coarse, undyed woollen garments, they wandered through 
all the villages, teaching people how to live a simple Christian 
life. Wherever they went, they won the heart of the honest 
peasant. They denounced the evils committed by the upper 
classes and they taught that servants and tenants may with- 
draw their services and rents from their lords that live openly 
a cursed life. Gradually therefore the peasants became con- 
verts to these new social doctrines. 

The peasants learned from the same sources that they should 
organize to secure their rights. In this work the friars played 
an important role. They served as messengers between differ- 
ent parts of the country, with passwords and a secret language 
of their own. In this way the commands of leaders could be 
rapidly carried to the peasants throughout the length and 
breadth of the land. 

278. The Peasants' Revolt (1381). — When finally the storm 
broke, faster than the news could fly, the peasantry of England 
rose as one man against their masters. Violence and blood- 
shed followed but the peasants gained their point. They 
were at last free, for their victory marked the downfall of 
serfdom. 

279. The " Stock and Land Lease." — Along with the fall 
of serfdom went the collapse of the manorial system; for the 
owners of land could not pay high wages and make a profit. 
In many instances the lord preferred to let a parcel of 
his land with some stock to a tenant. The latter was furnished 
with oxen which he used for ploughing and for other work in 
the field. Few cattle were fattened for the table, as beef could 
not be preserved through the winter. Every tenant, however, 
had a large pig-sty, which furnished him with enough salt 
pork to last through cold weather. He also raised many 
chickens, ducks, and geese. In fact poultry was a valuable 
possession, for the farmer could use it as easily as money in 



Farming 



261 



exchange for what he needed to buy. The system here de- 
scribed is called the Stock and Land Lease. 

When the tenant took good care of his little farm, his profits 
were handsome. In that case he would generally rent another 
strip of land and -hire a workman to help him. Thus we find 




Manor House and Field Labor 

Fourteenth century. In the background a large turreted manor house surrounded 
with a wall well furnished with gates. In front the labors of ploughing, planting, 
and seeding. The roadways divide the land neatly into fields. From a contem- 
porary miniature. 



the modern system of the landlord who takes the rent, the 
farmer who pays the rent and takes the profit, and the laborer 
who takes wages. 

280. The Yeomen. — This new class of tenant farmers, along 
with other freeholders, were known as yeomen. For four cen- 
turies they were the backbone of rural England. As yet they 



262 



English Economy and Society 




could not join in choosing members of parliament ; but having 
the right to vote for county officers, they were a power in local 
politics. They served on juries, chose the coroner, and attended 
the sheriff's court. An equally important fact is that they were 
ever ready to bear arms for the honor and glory of their sovereign, 
and actually formed the strength of the English army (§ 270). 
281. Sheepfarming ; Enclosures. — -The stock and land 
lease returned a substantial, though by no means an enor- 
mous, profit to the landlords. In ever increasing numbers they 

turned their attention to 
sheepfarming. This 
branch of agriculture was 
very lucrative, because 
there was little expense 
connected with it. In 
days when labor was 
scarce and expensive a 
few shepherds could take 
care of thousands of 
sheep. The lord, how- 
ever, required a large 
amount of land on which 
his flocks might graze. 
Fortunately for himself, 
according to the law of the time, he had complete control of all 
the land occupied by his peasants, and could do as he pleased 
with it. Greedily he took over the common pasturage of his ten- 
ants. Then he ' ' enclosed " it by putting a fence about it, to keep 
his sheep inside and intruders outside. It made no difference 
to him that his tenants no longer had a place to pasture their 
flocks ; his only consideration was that the rents he received 
were small compared with the profits of sheepfarming. Where- 
ever possible he forced his tenants to leave, and enclosed his 
whole estate in one large pasture. The lords accordingly grew 
immensely rich. It was the peasant, as usual, who suffered 
from this arbitrary treatment. Robbed of his land, he drifted 
into the towns in search of employment. 



A Flemish Warping Machine 

Operated by a woman. The process stretches 
the newly woven yarn of wool, and winds it 
neatly on spools preparatory to weaving. The 
woollen works of Flanders brought great wealth. 
From Vigne, 'Metiers des tisserands.' 



Industry 263 

282. The Manufacture of Cloth. — Sheepfarming caused a 
great increase in the amount of wool. Hitherto this commodity 
had been shipped abroad, as English workmen did not know 
how to make the raw wool into cloth. This condition the king 
sought to remedy by encouraging skilled Flemish artisans to 
settle in England and to teach his people the art of manufac- 
turing cloth. 

At present in our own country we welcome the foreigner, 
not only as an aid to our industry, but as one who is to become 
an American citizen of equal rank with ourselves. Englishmen 
of that time, however, were hostile to aliens, maintaining that 
foreigners were neither on a level with them, nor worthy of 
their society. This feeling was the more intense because of 
the long foreign wars which England had been waging. In 
times of excitement this dislike rose to fever heat, and on such 
occasions the lives of aliens were not safe. 

From what has been said it is evident that the king took a 
radical step in his effort to build up English industry. " By 
letters patent he granted alien weavers the right to dwell in 
England and perform their craft safely and securely. They, 
were not to be compelled to join any guild of -weavers against 
their will. . . . Full and speedy justice was to be done re- 
garding losses and injuries inflicted upon them." 1 

283. Avoidance of the Old Towns. — This new industry did 
not develop in the old towns, where the guilds with their many 
useless restrictions held sway and where the taxes were es- 
pecially heavy. " Let us carry on our work," cloth-makers 
said, " where we shall be undisturbed." Many of the older 
towns became almost deserted as manufacturers saw the dis- 
advantages of these places. As there were no factories in 
those days, the- cloth-making business could be carried on in 
small villages, or even in country districts. 

284. The Creation of New Classes. — This industry brought 
a new factor into the economic world, the capitalist employer. 
Formerly when the market was small, a master artisan with 
two or three men could make and sell cloth with profit. In 

1 Abrams, English Manners and Customs in the Later Middle Ages, 105. 



264 English Economy and Society 



\ 



time this method of manufacturing failed to supply the increas- 
ing orders for goods. Production on a large scale became 
necessary. At the same time there arose a new class of men 
whose capital made it possible to hire a large number of workers. 
Not only the cloth industry but other trades were organized 
in this way. In the working world there came to be accord- 
ingly several distinct classes, including merchants, manufac- 
turers, and artisans, in addition to unskilled hands. The 
scheme meant wealth to the capitalist and merchant and a 
living to the artisan. 

285. The Middle Class. -. — Men who by cleverness had 
amassed fortunes, and who were not nobles by birth, were 
now joined in a group described as the Middle Class. It com- 
prised chiefly the wealthy sheep farmers, the manufacturers, 
and the merchants. The rise of this moneyed class is the most 
striking social development of the period. The members oc- 
cupied a high social position ; they formed, so to speak, an 
aristocracy of wealth as opposed to that of birth. The king, 
when financially embarrassed, often called upon them for loans, 
and they often had the honor of entertaining his Majesty at 
banquets. In return the king made some of them knights and 
granted them permission to marry noble ladies. In time this 
class became the most powerful element in parliament and 
therefore most influential in shaping the policies of the nation. 
In the interest of their business they desired a strong govern- 
ment for the maintenance of domestic peace and for making 
the name of England respected abroad. 

286. The Lower Classes : Political and Social Standing. — 
Below the middle class in rank were the yeomen, or well-to-do 
farmers, whose meagre political privileges we have already 
noted (§ 280). Still lower in the scale were the artisans and 
laborers, who were permitted to take no part in the govern- 
ment. Parliament passed laws carefully regulating industries, 
but always in the interest of the merchants and manufacturers. 
This legislation was unfavorable to the workman. He could 
not leave the district in which he lived, and he had to work 
for wages fixed by parliament. 



Society 265 

In spite of these unfavorable circumstances the condition of 
artisans was on the whole good. The spinners and weavers, 
for example, both men and women, carried on their work at 
home. They chose their own hours, for they were paid by 
the piece. Living in the country or in villages, they had plenty 
of fresh air and a garden. It is true that wages were low, but 
in those times food was correspondingly cheap excepting in 
years of famine. The chief hardship to the poorer classes 
came in winter, when the scarcity of hay and vegetables made 
it difficult to keep domestic animals. Large quantities of salt 
meat and salt fish were consumed. Even when food was 
plentiful, however, it was not always wholesome. People ate 
few vegetables, and were warned against salads and raw fruit 
as dangerous to the health. Even in these unfavorable con- 
ditions we discover an advance in the standard of living which 
affected all classes. 

287. Slow Progress of Law and Order. — In this period the 
English made slow progress in law and order. Like their 
ancestors, they were quarrelsome. They preferred to settle 
disputes by brute force rather than to bring them before a 
court. There were many deeds of violence, such as stealing, 
assault, and murder. This condition was due to the fact that 
the central government, while growing stronger, was not yet 
able to enforce its laws. Local authorities, too, frequently 
let offenders go unpunished either because they were too poor 
to undertake prosecutions or because imprisonment would 
cost the community too much. In other cases we find people 
imprisoned for no causes whatever, and not freed until they 
had paid a ransom. 

288. Growing Power of Money. — In order to obtain the 
increasing luxuries, men desired to make more and more money. 
This period therefore saw a new growth of the vice of covetous- 
ness. We hear that " loyalty and truth were cast aside for 
the sake of money. Merchants were not afraid to burden 
their consciences with usury, although it was condemned as a 
heinous crime. . . . Lawyers defended unjust causes for the 
sake of money. ... It was most difficult to gather together 



266 English Economy and Society 

an honest set of jurymen, as they continually perjured them- 
selves for the great gifts which they received from the parties to 
the trial." l Swindling and cheating took place on a large scale. 

289. Good Qualities. — In spite of their faults they had 
many estimable virtues. They were brave; they fought and 
killed, but always in the open. Soldiers, sailors, and mer- 
chants worked in the face of perils and difficulties on land and 
sea. They were hospitable to strangers, and generous to the 
poor and sick. In a childlike way they displayed a quaint 
humor, particularly in the delight afforded them by silly car- 
toons. They were especially fond of horses and dogs, but were 
slow in learning to appreciate art, literature, and music. They 
were usually polite, too, in their speech. 

Above all, the Englishman was intensely patriotic. The 
battles of his country were " fought with a national weapon ; 
its wars were financed by the national wealth of the wool trade ; 
its armies were formed, not of feudal knights or foreign mer- 
cenaries, but by national and voluntary enlistment. . . . 
Political songs showed a popular interest in public affairs, and 
popular feeling is voiced in the poems of Chaucer." 2 

The attitude toward themselves and others is best expressed 
by a patriot of the time : " The English are great lovers of 
themselves and of everything belonging to them; they think 
that there are no other men than themselves, and no other 
world but England ; and whenever they see a handsome for- 
eigner, they say that he looks like an Englishman, and that 
it is a great pity that he should not be an Englishman." 3 

Topics for Reading 

I. The Battle of Crecy. — Robinson, Readings, I. 466-70 ; Ogg, 
Source Book of Medimval History, 427-36; Kendall, Source-Book of 
English History, 93-7 ; Gardiner, History of England, 240-2 ; Terry, 
History of England, 362-8. 

II. Devastation of France. — Robinson, I. 472-5; Ogg, 436-9; 
Adams, Growth of the French Nation, 114 f. 

1 Abrams, Social England in the Fifteenth Century, 265. 

2 Pollard, Factors in Modem History, 22-23. 

3 Abrams, 28. 



Studies 267 

III. The Black Death and the Peasants' Rebellion. — Kendall, 
102-9; Cheyney, Short History of England, 243-50; Cheyney, In- 
dustrial and Economic History of England, 96-134 ; Terry, 371-5, 403-12 ; 
Gardiner, 248-50, 267-9. 

IV. Enclosures and Poverty. — Allsop, Introduction to English 
Industrial History, 96-107 ; Innes, England's Industrial Develop- 
ment, chs. xx, xxi ; Gibbins, Industry in England, ch. xvii. 

Review 

1. Explain briefly how the English people became conscious of 
their national unity. 2. When did the Hundred Years' War take 
place? How did it begin? For what is the battle of Crecy famous? 
Describe the English treatment of the French and of their lands. 3. 
Give an account of Joan of Arc. 4. What political changes took place 
in France because of the war (§272)? 5. How was serfdom abolished 
in England? 6. Describe the Black Death. 7. What effect had 
the plague on the quantity and price of food? on the condition of labor- 
ers? 8. What were the contents and effect of the Statute of Laborers? 
9. Why did the peasants revolt? How did they prepare for it? 10. 
Describe the revolt, n. Explain the character and working of the 
Stock and Land Lease. 12. Who were the yeomen? What was their 
political condition? 13. Give an account of enclosures. 14. Why 
and in what way did the manufacture of cloth arise in England? How 
were foreign tradesmen treated? 15. By whom was this industry 
carried on, and in what way? 16. What new social classification did 
the industry bring about?- 17. Describe the standing of the middle 
class. 18. What was the political and social standing of the lower 
classes? their degree of comfort in home life? 19. In what degree 
was law enforced and order maintained? 20. How did the growth 
of industry affect the English love of money? 21. Mention some of 
the good qualities of Englishmen in this age. 

Additional Studies 

1. Explain the change from feudalism to nationality (§ 269). 2. How 
did the new feeling of nationality express itself in the relation of 
Englishmen with foreigners? In the Hundred Years' War? 3. Col- 
lect from this chapter all the causes mentioned as having helped the 
overthrow of feudalism. 4. Compare the estates general with the 
English parliament. 5. From an earlier chapter describe seifdom, 
and from this chapter explain its overthrow in England. 6. What 
effect had the Black Death on the condition of laborers ? 7. Why were 
the peasants discontented? 8. Describe the results of their revolt. 

9. Compare the new systems of rural economy with feudal economy. 

10. What classes benefited most by these new systems, and why? 



268 English Economy and Society 

ii. Why did new towns grow up, and how did they differ from the 
old? 12. Were Englishmen growing worse or better morally? 13. 
Did the majority now live more comfortably than under the feudal 
system? Give reasons for your view. 14. Write an essay on one of 
the reading topics. 15. Write a syllabus of this chapter like the one 
on p. 231. 




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CHAPTER XIX 

DISCOVERIES AND EXPLORATIONS; THE SUPREMACY 

OF SPAIN 

i 400-1 600 

290. The Crusades and the Commercial Nations. — The 

Crusades had done more than anything else to broaden man's 
mental horizon (§ 206 f). They had furnished the impulse to 
scientific and literary activities in the " Revival of Learning." 
They had opened up communication between East and West. 
As we have seen, there was an enormous business transacted 
over the permanent trade routes between these regions during 
and after the Crusades. It is an important fact, too, that they 
helped to centralize England, France, Spain, and Portugal 
into strong political powers (§ 205). These were the nations of 
Europe which were now showing most enterprise. 

291. Portugal. — Portugal was naturally fitted to carry on 
the early work of discovery. This little country, smaller than 
the state of New York, is admirably suited for commerce. It is 
bordered on two sides by the Atlantic, and has a number of 
excellent harbors. In the time of which we are speaking a 
majority of its million inhabitants were poor, for the land and 
money were in the hands of the nobles and clergy. The peasants 
were forced to work hard, for the arid soil afforded but a scanty 
living. They farmed intelligently, however, and raised large 
quantities of olives for export, and grapes for wine. There 
were almost no manufactures, and for that reason few artisans. 
Most of the people on the coast were fishermen. In their little 
barks they had often ventured far out of sight of land. They 
had dared travel where the most reckless of the ancients had 
feared to go — into the unknown ocean beyond the Strait of 

269 



270 Discoveries and Explorations 

Gibraltar. The Portuguese peasant or fisherman was illiterate, 
but he was sturdy, sober, brave, and industrious. He was well 
equipped by nature to endure the hardship as well as the good 
fortune which was to fall to his lot. 

The Portuguese were devout Christians ; they had furnished 
men and supplies for the Crusades ; they had arisen as a man to 
help drive out the Moors. These religious movements had 
served to unite all classes and all districts into one nation. Local 
jealousies were swallowed up in national pride and ambition. 
The population was teeming with energy. 

292. Prince Henry the Navigator. — It was a Portuguese 
prince, known to history as Prince Henry the Navigator, who 
turned this ambition in a practical direction. He lived a 
peculiar life in his lonely castle, far from all social pleasures. 
Never did he drink wine or give way to passionate words. His 
honest face, though ugly, and his straightforward speech in- 
spired his people with confidence. Above all, he was an earnest 
Christian. It was his wish to crush the Moors of northern Africa 
so thoroughly that they would never again prove a menace to 
Christendom. For this purpose he persuaded his father to 
organize an expedition, which gained a foothold in northwestern 
Africa. This enterprise was the beginning of Portuguese power 
in Morocco. 

At this juncture Prince Henry conceived the great project 
of converting the East to Christianity, and incidentally of 
securing the wealth and trade of the Orient for his country. He 
established accordingly a nautical station for the study of 
geography and navigation. About him were gathered the 
greatest scientists of the day. Prince Henry's place in history 
is chiefly due to the fact that he put exploration upon a scientific 
basis. 

293. Exploration and Colonization of the West Coast of 
Africa. — Under his direction several expeditions set out along 
the coast of Africa, giving Portuguese names which still remain, 
to the places they passed. On return trips they brought back 
booty and slaves from the Dark Continent. The slaves were 
set to work on the farms of Portugal, so that many citizens were 



Portuguese Discoveries 



271 



made free to join the exploring movement. Proving lucrative, 
the slave trade quickly grew enormous; and in consequence 
slavery, a barbarous system of labor, remained a blot upon 
civilization until it was finally wiped out of existence in the 
nineteenth century. 

Meanwhile the Portuguese slowly but surely extended their 
supremacy along the west coast of Africa, planting military 
and trading stations on the way. In 1488 Diaz reached the 
southern point of the continent, whence he hoped some future 
navigator might continue on to India. 




Calicut 

With harbor in the foreground. From Braun and Hohenberg, 'Civitates orbis 
terrarum,' 1573. In this work the city is described as 'the most famous port of 
India.' 



" At Lisbon's court they told their dread escape, 
And from the raging tempests named the cape. 
' Thou southmost point ! ' the joyful king exclaimed, 
' Cape of Good Hope be thou forever named ! ' " 

By this time Portugal had set up trading stations on the islands 
off the coast of Africa — the Ma-dei'ras, the A-zores', and the 
Cape Verde islands — possessions which she retains to this day. 
294. Opening of the Water Route to India. — About ten 
years later Vasco da Gama rounded the Cape of Good Hope and 
finally anchored before Cal'i-cut, India. Eight days later he 
was permitted to go ashore. At once he repaired to the palace 
and made presents to the king, who was displeased at the small- 
ness of their value, and who thought gold and silver should have 



272 



Discoveries and Explorations 



been sent. His goods were finally landed, but only after con- 
siderable opposition on the part of native traders. His return 
to Lisbon, however, proved the existence of a water route be- 
tween Europe and the Indies. The joys of the Portuguese 




Portuguese Governor of India 

Travelling in state, accompanied by his staff. One servant holds a sunshade 
over him, while another endeavors to keep the steed moving at a desirable gait. A 
squire, girt with sword, precedes his master, while beside the horse walks a little 
page. From an engraving of the sixteenth century. 



were unbounded. They heaped great honors on the successful 
navigator. He was perhaps more pleased with his material 
reward, for the freight he carried had paid the expenses of his 
voyage sixty times over. 

This voyage marked the decline of Venice, for overland routes 
were gradually abandoned. Lisbon became the commercial 
centre of the West. From that port vessels conveyed to Ant- 
werp, for northern distribution, the wares of the Orient. 



The Portuguese Domain 273 

295. The Portuguese Colonial Domain. — Here at last was 
a world market where all nations might meet and trade. Un- 
fortunately the new mistress of the seas clung to the old idea of 
monopoly — she wished all the trade for herself. Accordingly 
she applied to the pope for a title to the new lands. Christians 
believed that the pope was supreme lord of the earth, and as 
such had the sole right to dispose of it. The Portuguese, who 
had always been friendly to the pope, were granted the right to 
search out, discover, and claim as their own all lands eastward 
and southward as far as the Indies. They were permitted also 
to confiscate whatever land they wished, and to sell the natives 
into slavery. 

In 1508 the Portuguese appointed Al-bu-quer'que governor 
of their new lands. He was well fitted for his task — a man of 
great wisdom and character, fearless and intelligent. Gifted 
with remarkable foresight, he saw that in a few years other 
nations of Europe would rush madly toward the East. In those 
few years he had to make the position of Portugal secure. He 
built fortresses and naval stations therefore at strategic points, 
and established trading posts in convenient places. 

As he had but a small army with him, he used diplomacy in 
persuading the native princes to recognize the king of Portugal 
as their sovereign. In this task he succeeded remarkably well. 
His compelling personality filled the Orientals with awe; his 
swiftness of action appealed to their imagination. He under- 
stood the native mind, too, and proved to be its master in 
intrigue. His orders were just, as well as firm. Above all, he 
won the affections of those about him. A glance at the map will 
show that by the middle of the sixteenth century the Portuguese 
had extended their commercial supremacy over an immense 
area — the entire coasts of Africa and Asia from the straits of 
Gibraltar to Canton, China, including many near-by islands. 

296. Spain. — Spain, which occupies the larger part of the 
Iberian peninsula, is mainly a plateau. In this rugged country 
hardy shepherds tended their flocks of sheep. Once a year 
they cut the wool, washed, combed, and carded it. Then they 
sent it to the cities in the valleys to be made into cloth. Most 



274 



Supremacy of Spain 




Growth of Spain 275 

of this cloth was exported to other cities on the Mediterranean, 
with which Spanish merchants carried on an active trade. For 
centuries the southern and eastern parts, which alone were 
fertile, belonged to the Moors, who were Mohammedans, and 
who had invaded the country from Africa. They cultivated 
the soil with great diligence and skill by means of implements 
which they had perfected. After their expulsion the Spanish 
farmers took possession of these lands ; but indolent by nature 
and despising work, they gradually allowed their farms to 
fall to ruin. As the vineyards and olive orchards required little 
care, they alone remained productive. 

Surrounded on three sides by water and provided with ex- 
cellent ports, Spain was admirably fitted for colonization and 
commerce and for maritime empire. Her economic develop- 
ment, however, was stunted by her religious policy, which aimed 
at the extirpation of all non-Christians, chiefly the Jews, 
who were the most industrious, intelligent, and enterprising 
classes of the population. 

297. The Unification of Spain. — Such was the condition of 
affairs in the fifteenth century. Looking further back into the 
past, we find, in the Middle Ages, the Moors in possession of 
nearly the whole peninsula, with a few petty Christian kingdoms 
in the mountains of the north. During the early centuries of 
modern time the Christians gradually expanded southward, 
uniting more closely with one another and driving the Moors 
before them. In 1469 the unification of the Christians of 
Spain was completed by the marriage of King Ferdinand of 
Arragon with Queen Isabella of Castile. The war on the Moors 
continued, till a final effort of militant Christianity seized 
Granada, the last Moslem stronghold in Spain (1492). The 
Moors still remaining in the kingdom continued rebellious till 
their expulsion in 1609; and the numerous sect of Jews were 
given forthwith the alternative of baptism or exile. The politi- 
cal unification and the suppression of non-Christians greatly 
intensified the national spirit, which with the Spaniards assumed 
the form of crusading religious zeal. 

The new sovereigns, mentioned above, had found their coun- 



276 Supremacy of Spain 

try on the verge of anarchy. The chronic disturbers of the 
peace were the barons, who were little better than bandits. 
Ferdinand prudently formed a Sacred Brotherhood of the chief 
cities, whose principal service was the levy and support of a 
mounted police. This force mercilessly swept the country, and 
brought to justice those nobles who had opposed the will of 
the sovereign. In places where evil-doers abounded the govern- 
ment established another class of police officers, the Correctors, 
who put down lawbreakers with surprising efficiency. About 
the same time the national legislature, which formerly had en- 
joyed great independence, was made subordinate to the king. 
Gaining control also of the armies of various religious orders — 
organized for the expulsion of the Moors — the king made him- 
self for the first time commander-in-chief of all the military 
forces of the state. Lastly he employed the Inquisition to deal 
with offenders whom he could not reach through the ordinary 
courts. The measures of police administration and the cen- 
tralization of power in the king's hands added extraordinary 
strength to the state, changed it in fact from a feudal state 
to one of the modern type, and enabled it to undertake efficiently 
the work of colonizing and of controlling vast regions beyond 
the seas. 

298. Columbus. — It was a foreigner, a Genoese sailor, who 
turned the ambitions of this country toward the sea. We 
know little of the early life of Christopher Columbus. At the 
age of fourteen he was a sailor under the Genoese flag ; ten years 
later he entered the Portuguese service. Here he learned 
scientific navigation from men who had no superiors in that 
line. His mates called him a dreamer because he believed that 
the Indies could be reached by sailing westward. He was. ac- 
quainted with the views of the ancient Greek scientists (§ 91),. 
and was therefore convinced that the earth was a sphere. He 
believed that six-sevenths of the earth's surface was land ; hence 
the ocean journey between Europe and Asia would be compara- 
tively short. Had he known the real distance, it is likely that 
his courage would have failed him. Fortunately the charts of 
the time proved conclusively that Japan was on the same 



Columbus 



277 



parallel of latitude as southern Spain. Naturally no one under- 
stood that an entire continent lay between. On the contrary 
maps showed the alluring proximity of Japan, with islands 
along the route, distributed at convenient distances, so that 
mariners might have a place to anchor every night. Columbus 
knew no more than his contemporaries. Unlike them, however, 
he dared put his conclusions into practice. 

299. The Discoveries of Columbus. — Columbus sought to 
prove to the monarchs of Spain that his plan was practical. 
Poverty-stricken, he pleaded his cause for years, the butt of 
court wits who scoffed at 
" the great dreamer." 
Finally Queen Isabella, 
agreeing to his terms, fitted 
him a fleet of three vessels. 
He and his descendants 
were to be viceroys of 
India forever, with one- 
tenth of all the profits of 
governing and exploiting 
whatever territory he 
might conquer. Later, 
however, this bargain was 
repudiated, for the Spanish 
monarch could not bear 
to see a foreign adven- 
turer sovereign of a vast 
realm acquired under the patronage of Spain. 

The westward journey was long and tedious but land was 
finally sighted. It was one of . the Ba-ha'ma islands, which 
Columbus christened San Sal'va-dor. After visiting several 
other islands he was convinced that he had found Asia. He 
discovered gold as well as cotton and pepper, products for which 
the East was noted. Thoroughly convinced that he had reached 
India, he called the natives Indians. 

300. The Naming of America. — Soon after the discovery 
of the New World others began to make voyages of exploration 




Magellan's Ship 

In 1519 Magellan set sail from Spain with 
five ships, and reached the Philippine Islands 
in 1521. After his death in that region one 
of his ships, the Victoria, continued on to 
Spain, thus completing the first circumnaviga- 
tion of the globe. 



278 



Supremacy of Spain 



in the same direction. In three or four of these expeditions the 
part of astronomer was taken by A-mer'i-go Ves-puc'ci, an 
Italian in the service of Spain and afterward of Portugal. He 
wrote an account of the plants, animals, and natives of the 
coast that came under his observation. In the general igno- 
rance as to the real discoverer the name Amerigo, in its Latin 
form America (feminine of Americus), rather than that of Colum- 
bus, was given to the new continent. 

The work of exploration was pushed so rapidly that before 
the middle of the sixteenth century Spanish sovereignty had 
been proclaimed over the West Indies, Florida, Mexico, Cali- 
fornia, and the whole seaboard of South America, with the 

exception of Brazil. Naturally 
Spain did not wish other nations 
to share in her new possessions. 
She appealed, therefore, to the 
pope, the arbiter of international 
affairs, who divided the world into 
two parts — ■ leaving the Eastern 
half to the Portuguese, and giv- 
ing the West to the Spaniards. 
Brazil alone on the Western con- 
tinent was granted to Portugal; 
and when Spain absorbed Por- 
tugal (1580), the possessions of both countries were temporarily 
united. 

301. Spanish Conquests in America. — The work of conquer- 
ing this vast area and of civilizing its millions of Indians is un- 
paralleled in brilliancy and daring. The " Conquerors " with 
their bands of soldiers seem like a race of supermen. Born in a 
mountainous country, they were by nature hardy, abstemious, 
and independent. The greater part of their lives they had 
spent on the field of battle; and their warlike exploits, along 
with their knightly education, made them brave, proud, and 
courteous. Their love of adventure and their imagination had 
been fed on the romance of chivalry ; and their practical experi- 
ence had given them the pioneer qualities of observation and 




1** w - 

Spaniards Battling with Aztecs 
From an Aztec drawing. 



Colonization of America 279 

alertness. Their varying fortunes in the wars had brought 
them endurance and a dogged resolution. Gradually they 
worked their way inward from the seacoast, through dense 
jungle and forest, over plain and mountain, fighting as they 
went, and building fortresses to protect their winnings. Occa- 
sional failure and defeat served only to whet their determina- 
tion, and eventually to give them the mastery over the lands 
and peoples that stretched from Porto Rico to San Francisco, 
and thence southward to the Straits of Magellan. Gold 
and the gospel furnished motives fully as strong as that of 
glory. 

Thousands who aspired to wealth were attracted to the new 
possessions. It was a bitter disappointment to find unclad 
savages and dense forests instead of mountains of gold. Droop- 
ing spirits were restored, however, by the discovery of gold in 
Mexico and Peru. Countless numbers migrated to those 
countries in the hope of finding a quick and easy way to fortune. 

302. The Christian Motive. — The seven hundred years of 
struggle against the Moors had created in the character of 
the Spaniards an intense religious as well as political ardor. 
They could not help regarding the unbeliever in Catholicism 
as a foe to God and Spain. This intense religious zeal found 
an outlet in the New World, where millions of souls might be 
saved for Christ. This work was entered upon with burning 
enthusiasm by all ranks of Spaniards, who willingly left home, 
comfort, and friends to live in the wilderness. They contin- 
ually exposed their lives to danger, since they thought only 
of the savages for whom they were working. Missionaries 
sought not only to convert the natives but to scatter among 
them the seeds of European civilization. In this way alone, 
they thought, could conditions be permanently improved. 
Those who were intelligent and eager to learn were brought to- 
gether into a mission. This was an industrial school where the 
pupils were taught simple arts. Its teachers were the friars, 
many of whom had been plain Spanish peasants. Discipline 
was strict and the day's work began and ended with prayers. 
Each Indian, besides cultivating his own land, had to work two 



28o 



Supremacy oj Spain 



hours a day on the mission farm. Such establishments became 
very prosperous and productive. They are the greatest con- 
tribution made by Spain to the development of America. Even 
to-day the Spanish missions in California stand as monuments 
to the work of these self-sacrificing friars. Other schools and 




San Jose Mission 

San Antonio, Texas, once a powerful agency for the civilization of the Indians. 
Present appearance. By permission of the Mentor. 



in time universities were founded. Many hospitals, too, pro- 
vided for the needy and the sick. In an age when the brother- 
hood of man was not a generally accepted principle, Spanish 
efforts for the betterment of the subjects oversea were unique 
in the movement of colonization. 



Misgovernment 



281 



303. Administrative Abuses. — It must not be assumed, 
however, that Spanish domination was an unmixed blessing to 
the natives. Naturally rascals and ruffians stole their way into 
government service. Thousands of miles from home, they felt 
themselves free to use their own devices for extorting more and 
more wealth from the Indians. Particularly common in the 
gold and silver mines were floggings, torture, and manslaughter. 
Nor were even the best officials always guided by humanitarian 
motives. The harsh legal codes of the day had hardened men's 
sensibilities to suffering. From the prolonged warfare at home, 
too, they had come to 
feel a contempt for 
human life. Not only 
were they cruel to sub- 
jects but they some- 
times even sold into 
slavery or put to 
death their fellow 
countrymen. Their 
inhuman treatment of 
the American natives 
therefore only re- 
flected the spirit of 
the time. Officials 
found it far more profi- 
table to cheat and 
rob the Indians, and 
to force them into slavery, than to spend their time in improv- 
ing the country. The object of many an officer was to return 
home as speedily as possible to squander his booty in riotous 
living. It is true that the king of Spain devised rules for the 
just and fair treatment of natives, but the cumbersome machin- 
ery of government, the great distance between home and colony, 
and the slowness of travel made it extremely difficult to punish 
erring officials. 

304. Other Obstacles to Colonial Prosperity. — Colonies 
have usually been regarded as a means of producing raw mate- 




Negro Miners 

Slaves in the Spanish colonies. 
'Voyages.' 



From De Bry, 



282 



Supremacy of Spain 



rials to feed the factories at home. The Spanish possessions 
were well fitted for this purpose; for the temperate zones of 
America are notably productive. The vast tracts of fertile 
lands, however, made little appeal to settlers. It is true that 
Spain was a small country and so sparsely populated that the 
officials and priests who emigrated to the new world proved a 
serious drain. Spain could hardly spare more of her people for 
permanent settlements. Few families came; and unmarried 
adventurers usually took to themselves native wives. The result 

was a mixed race 
and a lower civil- 
ization. 

Unfortunately, 
too, the gold and 
sil ver mines 
blinded new- 
comers to all else. 
The indolent 
Spaniards now 
began to forsake 
all work which 
did not yield a 
large return with 
little effort. 
Manufacturing 
at home and agri- 
culture in the colonies waned almost to the vanishing point. 
Bullion kept pouring into Spain, yet only to produce an un- 
healthy condition of economy. 

305. The Colonies Sacrificed to Imperialism. — The gravest 
injury befell both America and Spain through the political 
ambition of the king. He did not use the bullion from the New 
World for improving internal conditions but for strengthening 
his prestige in Europe. Early in the sixteenth century this 
policy made Spain the greatest power in the world. Besides 
her vast empire in the New World, the Netherlands, Austria, 
and Naples were under her control. Her king ruled the Holy 




Note. Philip II was the son and successor of Charles 
V (§ 321), whose European dominions are indicated on 
this map. 



Sacrifice to Imperialism 283 

Roman Empire (§ 190). Portugal, too, with her rich East 
Indian empire was soon to fall to her lot. To the ambition 
of ruling and extending this vast empire all hopes of internal 
improvement were sacrificed. 

The Spanish sovereign Philip II (1 556-1 598) was not capable 
of ruling over so vast an area or so many different peoples. 
Such work required a genius. Philip was conscientious, to be 
sure, but of a suspicious nature. He toiled early and late on 
matters of routine which would better have been left to his 
helpers. On the other hand, his assistants, men of action, were 
so restricted by his orders that they worked at a great disad- 
vantage. When affairs went wrong, too, Philip made no attempt 
to find the reason, but looked to God to bring order out of chaos. 

His European subjects were giving him great trouble. Many 
had deserted the Catholic faith for other beliefs which were 
continually becoming stronger. The most powerful of Catholic 
monarchs, Philip felt it his duty to stamp out these Protestants, 
as they were called (§ 326). Throughout his realm this perse- 
cution led to constant religious wars, which proved to be a serious 
financial burden. It was during these wars that the Dutch 
Netherlands threw off the Spanish yoke and became an inde- 
pendent nation. Many of the Protestants who were forced to 
flee the empire were skilled artisans. In this way home indus- 
tries were deprived of their best workmen, and Spain was left a 
poorer nation. 

306. Trade Restrictions. — The Spanish people firmly be- 
lieved that their new possessions existed for their benefit alone. 
Goods which the colonists needed they were permitted to buy 
from the mother country alone, and at ridiculously high prices. 
They were permitted further to export their wares to no other 
country nor in any other than in Spanish vessels. At a later 
date this precedent was followed by the other colonizing nations 
— Holland, France, and England. 

Spain was economically unfit to enforce this policy. Her 
factories could not supply the large colonial market ; and the 
demand therefore came to be filled more and more with foreign 
manufactures. Then, too, there were not enough Spanish 



284 Supremacy of Spain 

ships for this carrying trade. Large profits lured the swift 
light vessels of other nations to smuggling. They were ready 
to sell merchandise to the colonists at reasonable rates, and to 
purchase their surplus stocks. Through this cause the legiti- 
mate trade of Spain with her colonists shrank to a relatively 
small volume. 

307. Summary of the Economic Decline of Spain. — Spain 
had rendered a great service to the world by helping Columbus 
in the discovery of America. Through their desire for adven- 
ture, their crusading zeal, and their longing for wealth, her 
people had explored and opened up a large part of the New 
World. It is clear, however, that she failed to take advantage 
of the wonderful opportunities which lay within her grasp. 
In the first place she attempted expansion on too large a scale ; 
her vast endeavors overtaxed her limited financial resources and 
drained her of men. Then, too, the development of the colonies 
was sacrificed to dynastic interests on the continent of Europe. 

Lastly, the very mines of the New World proved a cause of 
decay. In those days the precious metals were thought to be 
wealth itself, not a mere medium of exchange. As long there- 
fore as galleons continued to return from America with large 
amounts of gold and silver, the Spaniards thought themselves 
prosperous. This easy method of gaining wealth placed a 
premium upon idleness. Industry and agriculture stagnated; 
and Spain was no longer self-supporting. Part of her fortune 
went to other countries in exchange for food and clothing. The 
rest drifted abroad to pay the debts of war and of an extravagant 
court. With her commerce and her income shrinking and her 
expenses growing, Spain even in the sixteenth century began to 
decline. The possessions which she had taken from Portugal 
were soon lost to other nations ; her American colonies, however, 
she retained until the opening of the nineteenth century. 

Topics for Reading 

Those who are using this book are advised to read first Hayes, Politi- 
cal and Social History of Modem Europe, I. 49-69, and afterward the 
following authors. 



Studies 285 

I. Portuguese Colonization. — Keller, Colonization, chs. iii, iv ; 
Morris, History of Colonization, I. 199-229; Webster, History of Com- 
merce, 115-21; Cunningham, Western Civilization, II. 129-38, 183-90. 

II. Spanish Colonization. — Cheyney, European Background of 
American History (American Nation), I. ch. v; Morris, I. 230-59; 
Webster, ch. xvi. 

Review 

1. Summarize the effects of the Crusades as given in §290. 2. 
Describe the situation of Portugal; the commercial activities of her 
people. 3. Give an account of Henry the Navigator, and of his work.- 
4. Describe the explorations along the western coast of Africa. What 
islands did Portugal acquire in that region? 5. How was the water 
route to India opened? What was the effect on Venice ? 6. How was 
a Portuguese empire built up? Describe its location. What was 
the character of Albuquerque, and what did he accomplish? 7. What 
were the occupations of the Spaniards? What was their condition? 
8. How was the unification of Spain brought about? 9. Give an 
account of Columbus. What were his ideas and hopes? 10. What 
arrangements were made for him by Queen Isabella? Describe his 
voyage and discoveries, n. Why was America so named? How were 
the conflicting claims of Portugal and Spain adjusted? 12. How did 
the Spaniards look upon America and its inhabitants? 13. Describe 
the effort to convert and to civilize the Indians. 14. What was the 
extent of Spain's power in Europe? What was the character of Philip 
II, and with what difficulties did he meet? 15. How were the Spanish 
colonies treated? 16. In what occupations did most of the colonists 
engage? 17. What restrictions were placed on trade, and with what 
object and result? 18. What brought Spain to decline? 

Additional Studies 

1. Why did the limits of navigation remain unchanged through so 
many centuries? 2. What made it possible for early modern naviga- 
tors to extend their voyages to unknown parts of the world? 3. What 
products of the Far East did the western Europeans especially seek 
(see earlier ch.) ? 4. Was the idea of sailing west to India new to 
the world? 5. What was there in the situation and civilization of 
Portugal that made her the first country to navigate the Atlantic 
extensively? 6. Why did she precede England in this activity? 

7. Describe the conquest of Spain by the Mohammedans (earlier ch.). 

8. Why was Portugal supplanted on the sea by Spain ? 9. Enumerate 
the causes of the decline of Spain. 10. Write a syllabus of this chapter 
like that on p. 231. 11. Write an essay on one of the Reading Topics 
given above. 



CHAPTER XX 

THE PROTESTANT REVOLT ON THE CONTINENT 

I. The Revolt in Germany 

i5i7-i55S 

308. Political Condition of Germany. — While other coun- 
tries were developing into powerful nations, Germany remained 
feudal and disunited. Nominally this great region continued 
to be ruled by one supreme lord - the Holy Roman Emperor 
(§ 190). He did not reign by the " grace of God," as did the 
sovereigns of France and England, but was elected for life by 
seven powerful feudal lords of the empire. The office of em- 
peror accordingly was not hereditary ; often it was filled by a 
foreigner. This circumstance proved especially disagreeable 
to German-speaking people, in whose hearts patriotism was 
beginning to awaken, and in whose minds plans were forming 
to achieve national unity. 

309. The German Princes. — Though in name a unit, the 
empire was hopelessly cut into small states. There were many 
principalities, the study of which is all the more bewildering 
because most of them comprised patches of territory lying 
separate from one another. In fact almost any ruling prince 
had to cross a neighbor's land to visit the outer portions of his 
realm. Each of the more powerful states, however, such as 
Saxony and Bavaria, had its own supreme court and its own 
fiscal system and coinage. It was free also to enter into rela- 
tions of war and peace with foreign states. In exercising these 
functions the great feudal princes were real kings, who pre- 
ferred the safety and enlargement of their own realms to the 

286 



Improvements in Germany 287 

unity of the empire. Theirs were the only strong governments 
in Germany. 

310. The Princes and the Church. — Little by little the 
princes quelled the free nobles and absorbed the free cities 
within their domains. It was difficult, however, to combat the 
mighty power of the Church. The abbots and bishops, who 
were % politically no more than great feudal princes, claimed 
that they owed allegiance to the pope alone. They asserted 
their freedom from the temporal rulers; they attempted to 
administer justice and collect taxes within their boundaries. 
Naturally the princes did not wish to allow a large part of the 
community to remain beyond their control. To them it was 
an additional grievance that the Church government at Rome 
was constantly demanding more and more German gold. This 
precious commodity the states needed to pay their expenses. 

311. Economic Improvements. — In spite of its disunited 
condition, Germany began to trade with the East. As manu- 
factures were few, goods had to be paid for in gold and silver. 
An economist of the time deplores the fact that " pure good 
gold and silver money is sent out of the land ... to buy silks 
and satins from India which are of no use to us. In this way 
we make everybody else rich and remain beggars ourselves." 
Fortunately people turned to manufacturing, and industries 
grew up. At length German wares, rather than German 
money, came to be exchanged for eastern goods. Meanwhile 
the merchants who had grown wealthy in this trade began to 
unite their strength. By driving out small competitors they 
gradually built up a monopoly of trade. This advantage 
enabled them to buy in large quantities and to fix prices to suit 
themselves. The capitalization of industries here described 
gradually broke up the old guild organizations. 

312. Improvements in City Life. — The growth of a merchant 
class wrought great changes in town life. The visitor to 
Nu'rem-berg saw " many houses that befitted kings, and that 
the king of Scotland was not as nobly housed as a Nuremberg 
merchant of the second rank. They filled these dwellings with 
gold and silver plate, and with costly Venetian glass; their 



288 



Protestant Revolt 



furniture was adorned with delicate wood-carvings, and costly- 
tapestries decorated the walls." With an intense civic patriot- 
ism they " built great churches, chambers of commerce, and 
assembly rooms, where they had their public dances, dinners, 
and other kinds of social entertainments." 1 Unfortunately 
this wealth was used, not for solid improvements, but for 
luxuries in dress and living. , 




Nuremberg 

Famous for its beautiful streets, its rows of dwellings with high-pointed roofs, 
many of them fit for princes, the imperial castle on the apex of the hill, the encircling 
wall strengthened by 183 towers, and a population industrious and happy. From 
a MS. of the fifteenth century, Museum of Nuremberg. 

313. Oppressive Monopolies. — It is evident, too, that the 
German merchant used methods which were decidedly unfair. 
The leader in protest against such conduct was Martin Luther, 
who was to play an important role in the breaking up of the 
mediaeval church. His complaint sounds distinctly modern. 
" The monopolists succeed in driving out the small merchants 
by buying up large quantities of goods, and then suddenly 
raising the prices when they are left masters of the field. So 

1 Lindsay, History of the Reformation, I. 86. 



Culpable Business Methods 



289 



these monopolists have everything in their hands and do what- 
ever they wish, raise and lower prices at will, and oppress and 
ruin small dealers, just as a great pike swallows up a lot of little 
fishes. ... If monopolies are permitted to exist, then justice 
and righteousness must vanish." 

314. Dishonesty Prevails. — Nevertheless monopolies con- 
tinued to prosper and expand. Not content with the Eastern 
trade, the merchants obtained control of domestic goods, in- 
cluding the very necessaries of life, as grain, meat, and wine. 
Prices they raised un- 
til they made it im- 
possible for the poor 
man to live. 

Luther tells us that 
merchants were none 
too scrupulous. 
" They have learned 
the trick of placing 
such spices as pepper, 
ginger, and saffron, 
in damp vaults in 
order to increase 
their weight. There 
is not a single article 
out of which they 
cannot make an un- 
fair profit through 
false measuring, counting, or weighing, or by producing artifi- 
cial colors. They put the good quality on top and bottom and 
the bad in the middle." 

Agitation against these evils, however, gradually died. 
The merchants continued to grow wealthy, and wealth meant 
power. For business purposes they wished a strong central 
government. They allied themselves accordingly with the 
powerful princes. 

315. The Peasants. — The great majority of the population, 
however, were the peasants. We know little of their life, for 




German Peasants 

On the estate of a count, working and feasting. 
Their occupations and the character of the buildings 
are evident. In the centre are swine feeding on 
acorns; farther back are deer and one large hare. 
From Kleinpaul, ' Mittelalter.' 



290 ■ Protestant Revolt 

chroniclers of the time considered the nobles and merchants 
with their wealth and luxury all-important. Peasant life must 
have varied to a great extent, for the farmer was so dependent 
on his landlord that the character of the proprietor counted for 
much in the condition of the people. 

Village life generally prevailed. The small group of houses 
was surrounded by a wall or a fence made of strong stakes and 
interlaced branches. There was but one entrance, through a 
locked and carefully-guarded gate. Outside the fence was 
dug a deep ditch over which was a drawbridge. In the village 
were a small church and a town hall, where the village council 
met. This body settled disputes among the villagers; it 
attempted also to adjust feudal assessments. 

316. The Peasant's Cottage and Garden. — The house of 
the peasant was a wooden frame filled in with sun-dried bricks 
and thatched with straw. The chimney was of wood protected 
by clay. Under this one roof were sheltered live stock, fuel, 
food and fodder, as well as the family. The furniture was 
meagre — a table, a few three-legged stools, and one or two 
large chests. The rude cooking utensils were hung here and 
there on the walls. On the rafters above, the peasant hung 
his store of provisions — dried meat and fruit and baskets of 
grain. Dishes were of coarse clay and were seldom washed. 
In fact these unclean conditions led to the passing of a law , 
which ordered that tablecloths be washed at least once a year. 

About each house was a small garden enclosed by a fence. 
Here the peasant raised cabbages, greens, and lettuce ; poppies, 
garlic, and hemp ; apples, plums, and grapes. If ambitious, 
he had in addition a beehive and a pigeon-house. His food was 
substantial but plain — coarse bread, oatmeal porridge, and 
cooked vegetables. His drink was water, whey, sour country 
wine, or beer. 1 

317. Amusements. — The monotony of farm life was broken 
by the Church festivals which occurred with amazing frequency. 
After mass on those occasions the girls and pipers spent their 
time at the " dancing place." The men and lads hastened to 

1 Compare the similar features of life in France; ch. xxi. 



The Peasants 



291 




German Peasants 

In holiday attire, shortly before the time of 
Luther. From a pen-sketch. 



the town hall, where they became busily engaged in " eating 
calf's head, tripe, liver, black puddings, and roast pork, and 
drinking whey and sour country wine until some one sank 
under the benches ; and there was such a jostling, scratching, 
shoving, bawling, and sing- 
ing that not a word could 
be heard." 1 In the even- 
ing they, too, gathered at 
the dancing place. "The 
men whirled their partners 
off their feet and spun 
them round and round or 
seized them by the waist 
and tossed them as high 
as they could ; while they 
themselves leaped and 
threw out their feet in 
such reckless ways that 
the onlooker thought they would all fall down." 2 

318. Martin Luther (1483-1546). — It was in these sur- 
roundings that Martin Luther grew up. His parents were 
pious folk who wished their son to share their devotion to the 
Church. While he was yet an infant his mother sang to him : — 

" Oh Jesus, Master, meek and mild, 
Since thou wast once a little child, 
Wilt thou not give this baby mine, 
Thy grace and every blessing thine? 

Oh Jesus, Master mild, 

Protect my little child ! " 

As soon as he could talk, he was taught the Apostles' Creed, 
the Ten Commandments, and the Lord's Prayer. He received 
his early education at the village school, where like other boys 
of his time, he endured harsh treatment at the hands of his 
teachers. Though poor he continued his studies and finally 
received his Master's degree from the University of Er'furt 

(1505)- 

1 Lindsay, I. g4- 2 Ibid. 



292 



Protestant Revolt 




During his college course Luther's jovial disposition and 
honest nature made him popular among his fellow-students 
and won many friends. On a sudden impulse he entered a 
monastery. Here after the manner of monks, he strove to 
save his soul by fasting and scourging himself. Finding, how- 
ever, that these " good works " brought him no comfort, he 

became convinced that the only 
way man could be saved was by 
faith in God and His promises. 

319. His Protest against Indul- 
gences. — A few years later Luther 
became professor of theology at the 
University of Wit'ten-berg, where 
he preached this rare doctrine. At 
that time various monks were 
travelling through Germany " sell- 
ing indulgence papers." The pro- 
ceeds from their sale were to go 
toward the rebuilding of St. Peter's 
at Rome. By contributing money 
for this worthy cause, the purchaser 
of an indulgence was partially freed 
institution till "iS^6, whenTrwas from punishment for his sins on con- 
disused and the endowment ap- dition of sincere repentance. Unfor- 

plied to other objects. From a , , , 1 ,1 1 - ,1 

sketch tunately some people thought that 

the purchase of an indulgence gave 
them the right to sin. In, their case a low morality was the 
natural result. In the face of this evil Luther could not long 
keep quiet. As a loyal son of the Church, therefore, and in 
accordance with the custom of the time, he expressed his pro- 
test in Latin on a Wittenberg church door (1517). 

320. He Breaks with Conventional Religion. — Forcing him 
into debates, his skilful critics proved that Luther disagreed 
with the Church in its most important teachings. In his opin- 
ion the pope was only a human being, and like other men could 
make mistakes. He believed, too, that the pope should not 
have the sole right to interpret Scripture. In his mind the old 



University of Erfurt 

In which Luther studied. Its 
charter was granted in i3g2 and 
it continued as an educational 



Luther 



293 




distinction between clergy and laity gave way to the principle 
that the " Christian priesthood consisted of the whole body of 
believers." He was convinced, too, that salvation depended 
upon faith ; the sacraments of the Church therefore were use- 
less, for religion was a personal matter between man and God 
and no machinery should be allowed to intervene. 

In reply the pope issued a Bull of Excommunication against 
Luther. This decree the latter proceeded 
to burn in the presence of faculty, students, 
and citizens. Hitherto powerful monarchs 
alone had dared to pursue such a course, 
but now a simple monk defied the pope. 
From this time Luther began to make an 
impression beyond the immediate circle of 
his acquaintances. People flocked to the 
support of the man who had dared to stand 
true to his personal convictions. On his 
side, too, was the public conscience which 
protested against most serious scandals and 
abuses within the Church itself. It is a fact 
that largely through the incompetence of 
priests religion had lost a part of its virile 
power and had become to a large degree 
merely a matter of ceremonies and outward 
observances. Many of the higher clergy, 
moreover, were dominated by a love of 
power and wealth. It is to be noted that 
all these evils crept in despite the teachings 
of the Church ; and that many who loved 
the Church, and who had never thought of opposing it, now 
sided with Luther in the hope that reform might be brought 
about. 

321. Diet of Worms (1521). — Luther's disobedience soon 
became a question of national importance, to be settled by the 
Imperial parliament. This body met at Worms, one of the 
oldest towns of Germany. On this occasion its streets were 
crowded with princes and their retinues, with nobles, artisans, 



A Papal Bull 

Seal (bulla) of the 
pope about 1200. The 
seal was attached to 
the document by a 
string of red and yellow 
silk or hemp. The 
document itself came 
to be called a bull. 
The face on our left is 
that of St. Peter, on 
our right that of St. 
Paul. The letters 
above are an abbrevia- 
tion of Sanctus Petrus 
Apostolus, Sanctus 

Paulus Episcopus 
(Bishop). From 'Al- 
bum historique.' 



294 



Protestant Revolt 



and peasants. To these throngs must be added Spanish, 
French, and Italian merchants returning from the big Frank- 
furt fair. On all sides crowds were excitedly discussing the 
problems of the day. " Men were talking about the need of 
making an end of the papal exactions which were draining Ger- 
many of money, and the air was full of rumors of what the 

knights might attempt 
and whether there was 
going to be a peasant 
revolt. . . . The 
deputies from the 
cities were eager to 
get sure provisions 
made for ending the 
private wars which 
disturbed trade ; all 
classes were anxious to 
provide for an effec- 
tive central govern- 
ment when the em- 
peror was absent from 
Germany; local 
statesmen felt the 
need of putting an 
end to the constant 
disputes between 
Church and civil 
authorities in Ger- 
many; but the hard- 
est problem of all and the one which every man was thinking, 
talking, disputing about, was ' To take notice of the books and 
descriptions made by Friar Martin Luther against the Court of 
Rome.' " l 

When Luther refused to recant, he was condemned as a 
heretic. His life was to be forfeited and his writings were to 
be burned. None were to shelter him or give him food or drink 

1 Lindsay, I. 268. 




A Printing Office 

Sixteenth century. Type-setting in the rear ; in 
the middle, type-inking; in front, printed sheets. 
From Lacroix, 'Les arts au moyen age.' 



Literature and Pamphlets 295 

under severe penalties. As a matter of fact this edict was never 
enforced. Charles V of Spain, who had just been elected 
emperor, saw how great was the popularity of Luther and dared 
not as yet destroy the hero of his new subjects. 

322. Literature. — It was not till some years afterward that 
Luther completed the work of translating the Bible into his 
own tongue. " What a great and difficult task it is to make the 
Hebrew writers speak German ! " he exclaimed. There were 
earlier translations, but his work proved to be a masterpiece 
of German prose ; and the printing press made it possible for 
even the poorest of his followers to interpret the Bible for him- 
self. 

In fact this religious movement may be said to have created 
the German book trade. Up to 1 518 not more than fifty books 
were published annually ; they were for the most part popular 
works on medicine, almanacs, or public proclamations. The 
next five years witnessed a tremendous increase. Not only 
Luther himself, but his fellow- workers as well as opponents, 
turned out scores of pamphlets. By using the German lan- 
guage instead of Latin, they found they could appeal to a larger 
group of readers. 

323. Appeals to the Peasants. — Pamphlets were skilfully 
employed to flatter the vanities of the uneducated. In their 
pages the German peasant was glorified. He was represented 
as an upright and simple-minded though intelligent person. He 
was skilled in Bible lore and Church history ; he knew as much, 
too, of Christian doctrines as " three priests and more." The 
bold words of Luther appealed to those who felt the burden 
heavy and the yoke galling. His thoughts written down on 
the spur of the moment were couched in strong phrases. It is 
important, too, that at first his message was democratic. It 
broke down all barriers between priest and layman ; it taught the 
brotherhood of man, and the equality of all men before God. 
The work of spreading these doctrines was carried on through 
the most remote country districts by poor priests, who sym- 
pathized with the people in their troubles ; or by poor students 
on their way from university to university. Artists, too, 



296 Protestant Revolt 

travelling " in German fashion from one centre of their trade 
to another, found their audiences on the village green under the 
lime trees, or in the public houses in the lower parts of the town. 
They talked the rude language of the people. . . . They read 
to excited audiences small pamphlets, printed in thick letters 
on coarse paper, which discussed the burning questions of the 
day." 1 

In this way the smoldering hatred of peasant for priest was 
fanned to a blaze. Merchants and patriots complained that 
every year Church officials were demanding more and more 
German gold. In like manner the peasant thought of the 
burdensome tithes and of the fees for marriage, baptism, and 
burial demanded by his own parish priest. When reformers 
denounced the corruption of the higher clergy, it brought to 
the peasant's mind the thought of some evil, drunken priest, 
whom he happened to know. 

324. The Twelve Articles (1524); the Peasants' Revolt. — • 
The time was ripe for revolution. In the name of religion the 
discontented sought to gain their freedom. They formulated 
their demands in manifestoes, the most important of which is 
called the Twelve Articles. These articles asked that each 
community might have the right of choosing and dismissing 
its own pastor. They demanded that serfdom be abolished 
and labor be paid for in wages. They insisted that wild game, 
fuel, and pastures be free to all. Their chief request was that 
oppression cease and their burdens be lightened. "It is con- 
sistent with Scripture that we should be free and should wish 
to be so. . . . For this we shall pray to God, since He can 
grant our demands, and He alone." 

Naturally these demands were flatly refused. Thereupon a 
revolt suddenly began and spread like wildfire throughout 
Germany. The peasants were roused to action, and led by 
sympathizers, attempted to gain their rights. There was no 
definite plan of attack. Bands of armed men roamed the coun- 
try, burning and plundering. Their excesses aroused the 
authorities, whose trained troops soon routed the disorganized 

1 Lindsay, I. 329. 



The Peasants' Revolt 297 

peasants. The quelling of the revolt was unusually cruel and 
bloody ; no fewer than 100,000 peasants lost their lives. The 
authorities made no attempt to cure the ills. On the contrary 
services and dues became more onerous than ever before. The 
German peasantry sank into a condition of hopeless despair, 
there to remain until the nineteenth century. It was small 
comfort that " all were equal before God, and that the brother- 
hood of man was of more importance than human legislation." 1 

325. Luther's Attitude toward the Peasants' Revolt. — 
Luther, as we have seen, was of genuine peasant stock. It is 
only natural that he should wish the peasant to have a comfort- 
able home and plenty to eat. He rebuked accordingly the 
greed of the landlords and expressed his approval of the Twelve 
Articles. Although he believed in reform, he asserted that 
" the great battles are to be fought with the pen against the 
pen." His attitude toward the peasants' revolt was therefore 
unfavorable. Denouncing the rebels as murderers and thieves, 
he urged the princes ruthlessly to crush the uprising. " To 
rebel against the princes is to rebel against God. A Christian 
should bear injustice patiently." In fact Luther believed that 
the excesses, committed by the peasants had nearly ruined his 
cause. 

326. Protestants against Catholics ; the Compromise. — 
From this time forward the reform, or Protestant 2 movement, 
as it was called, was in the hands of the princes. Many rulers 
from motives of religion or conscience adopted the principles 
which Luther preached. Others for purely material reasons 
followed the same course. Their first step was to confiscate 
Church property and appropriate its wealth to their own use. 
They removed the civil power of the Church, and were now 
masters of their own dominions. Those princes who remained 
faithful to Catholicism, however, attempted by force to restore 



1 Schapiro, Social Reform and the Reformation, 73. 

2 A diet of the Holy Roman Empire at Speyer, 1529, issued a decree for checking 
the movement against Catholicism. Many German princes protested against the 
decree, and were therefore called Protestants. Hence this name came to apply to 
all Western Christians outside the Catholic faith. 



298 Protestant Revolt 

the old order. For many years Germany was divided into two 
armed camps. The war ended in the Religious Peace of Augs- 
burg (1555). It was a victory for the Protestants for it meant 
freedom from Rome. Rulers were allowed to retain Church 
lands which they had confiscated. Lutheran princes were 
granted the free exercise of their faith. It was not a victory, 
however, for liberty of conscience. The choice of the ruler be- 
tween Catholicism and Lutheranism bound all his subjects to the 
same faith. While professing liberty of conscience, the Luther- 
ans were intolerant even with those Protestants who disagreed 
with any of their doctrines. Evidently there was no place as 
yet for the individual who wished to hold views of his own. 

II. The Revolt Outside of Germany 

Beginning 1536 

327. John Calvin (1509-1564). — Another branch of Prot- 
estantism is named after John Calvin. Unlike Luther, he be- 
longed by birth to the educated class. He was the son of a 
well-known French lawyer, and was brought up in an atmos- 
phere of refinement and luxury. His early social training made 
him a polished gentleman. While a student in the University 
of Paris he joined the ever-increasing number of Frenchmen 
who felt inclined to improve religion by revolt against the estab- 
lished church. When accordingly the king determined to put 
an end to heresy among his subjects, Calvin fled to Switzer- 
land, where he accepted Protestantism with certain changes 
made by himself. These doctrines may be found in his work, 
Institutes of the Christian Religion. In 1536 he arrived at 
Geneva, at that time in chaos ; for the new religion had been 
adopted", but no citizen had the ability or the power to organ- 
ize the community according to the new faith. Calvin himself 
afterward said : " There were preachings and tumults, the 
breaking and burning of images, but I found no Reformation." 

328. Organization of Geneva (1536). — Calvin was well 
fitted for the work of organization. In the double capacity of 



Calvin 299 

political leader and chief pastor he gave the city a thorough 
housecleaning. A firm believer in discipline, he prepared a 
confession of faith which all citizens agreed to uphold. A 
catechism, too, was made ready for the instruction of young 
and old in the elements of religion. Everyone had to attend the 
daily church service unless he gave a good excuse for absence. 
Life outside the church was as carefully controlled. Calvin 
made laws, " regulating the furnishing of the houses and dealing 
with the pictures on the walls; laws as to the stuff of which 
different classes of citizens might make their clothes; laws as 
to the number of courses which one might have at dinner; 
laws forbidding ladies to put grease on their hair, or to carry 
watches at their waist-belts ; laws commanding the housewife 
to make her purchases in the market before ten a.m." 1 Gam- 
bling, dancing, and other worldly amusements were regarded 
as the worst sins of all. 

329. The Enforcement of the Rules. — The Gospel exerted 
a powerful influence in enforcing these laws. The police, too, 
showed great energy in arresting offenders. A rebuke, exclusion 
from civil privileges, banishment from the city, or in extreme 
cases whipping, were penalties for evading laws. The usual 
punishment, however, was imprisonment. In Geneva this was 
not a disgrace, for almost all the leading citizens spent part of 
their lives in prison. It was not an uncommon thing to see 
magistrates of one year become prisoners the following year. 
In like manner jailbirds often became officials. The most 
potent factor, however, in commanding obedience to the law 
was the character of Calvin himself. He demanded much from 
his followers, but never more than he himself performed in the 
course of his daily life. A contemporary says : "He succeeded 
simply because he was the most Christian man of his genera- 
tion." By law and example he was able to create an atmos- 
phere in which nothing but righteous conduct could exist. 

330. Foundations of Modern Democracy. — It seems para- 
doxical to state that the dictator Calvin laid the foundations of 
modern democracy. It is true that he strictly controlled the 

1 Lindsay, II. 338. 



300 Protestant Revolt 

conduct of citizens. This policy, however, was due to his 
belief that too much personal liberty harmed not only the 
individual but the community at large. It is in fact a recog- 
nized principle of democracy that not only the interests of the 
individual, but of society as well, ought to be served. We find 
another democratic element in the fact that Calvin conducted 
his government with the consent and approval of a majority 
of the citizens. 

Calvinism was the first modern effort to grant the common 
man the rights due him. It worked out to the fullest extent 
the doctrine of the brotherhood of believers. The noble had 
not granted the peasant a share in determining public policy. 
The town with its exclusive guild system did not permit the 
stranger to help make its laws. The Church 1 forbade laymen 
to criticise its teachings or challenge its discipline. Calvinism, 
on the other hand, recognized the importance of the individual. 
Laymen had the controlling power in its church. Upon them 
rather than upon the priest fell the burden of responsibility. 
They were taught the importance of choosing as pastors good 
men who had the interests of all at heart. 

The Calvinist was encouraged to discuss religious matters ; 
he was permitted to govern himself according to his own reason 
and conscience, as dictated by the Word of God. This freedom 
of thought stimulated the spirit of inquiry and the criticism 
of existing institutions. Adherents of this faith came to fear 
no knotty problem. In time they began to turn their attention 
to politics, trade, and natural science. They were thinking 
men, self-reliant, and bold. 

331. International Character of Calvinism. — This form of 
Protestant faith made a far wider appeal than did Luther- 
anism. Because of the elastic character through which it could 
adapt itself to any circumstances, Calvinism became inter- 
national in its influence. 2 Calvin founded a university which 

1 Only when the word church applies to the whole of western Christendom is it 
capitalized in this volume. 

2 It is the parent of the present Presbyterian, Congregational, and Reformed 

churches. 



Expansion of Calvinism 301 

attracted men from all parts of Europe. " Pastors educated 
in Geneva, taught by the most distinguished scholars of the 
day, who had gained the art of ruling others in having learned 
how to command themselves, went forth from its schools to 
become the ministers of struggling Protestants in the rest of 
Europe. . . . They were wise, indefatigable, fearless, ready 
to give their lives for their work." l 

Wherever these teachers went, whether to France, the 
Netherlands, Scotland, or England, their pure and simple 
method of living contrasted with that of the greedy nobility 
and court, whose luxuries and scandals were notorious. In 
countries whose kings were ever becoming more absolute in 
power, and in which democracy was at its lowest ebb, they 
brought with them the spirit of popular rights. In this way 
Calvinism rapidly gained as firm a foothold in France and the 
Netherlands as Lutheranism had already obtained in Germany. 

III. The Catholic Reformation; the Century of 
Religious Wars 

1 546-1 648 

332. Council of Trent (1546). — Aroused by the ever in- 
creasing power of the Protestants, the Catholic Church sum- 
moned its forces to regain the ground it had lost. Delegates 
from all parts of Europe met at Trent. This Council clearly 
defined and explained the doctrines of the church, that all 
might know and understand. They took especial pains to 
defend those doctrines which had been bitterly attacked and 
often misrepresented by zealous Protestants. They declared, 
too, the beliefs of the latter to be absurd and heretical, such as 
the faithful ought to shun. The most important force, how- 
ever, in restoring the influence and authority of the Roman 
church was the reform within the church itself. The Council 
of Trent succeeded in correcting evils. The abuse of indulgences 
and of excessive tithes was reformed. Parish priests were 

1 Lindsay, II. 133. 



3<D2 Catholic Reformation 

directed to give careful instruction to their flocks in the doc- 
trines of the church. The higher clergy were advised to be 
content with modest furniture and a frugal table and diet. 
They were forbidden also to strive to enrich their own kindred 
or domestics out of the revenues of the church. On the con- 
trary the Council declared : " Let them distribute their revenues 
among the poor, but not misapply or waste the church's goods 
for their own sakes." In view of all the improvements intro- 
duced in this period we must set down the Catholic reformation 
as equal in importance to the Protestant revolt. Through 
this reform it gained a unity and efficiency which it still pos- 
sesses. 

333. The Society of Jesus; Loyola (1491-1556). — The 
Catholic church, thus reorganized and reformed, became a 
powerful fighting force. It was infused with a new religious 
enthusiasm. The moral energy thus aroused brought about 
the founding of several religious orders, whose members were to 
become the chief soldiers of the pope in checking the losses to 
Catholicism. The foremost of these brotherhoods was the 
Society of Jesus, founded by Ig-na'ti-us Loy-o'la, a Spanish 
soldier. Endowed with the religious faith and ardor which dis- 
tinguish his country, he vowed to regenerate Christendom. 
Many eager disciples nocked to his new society. Adopting a 
few simple rules of life, the Jesuits, as the members are called, 
resolved to " serve God alone and the Roman pontiff, his vicar 
on earth." 

In many ways they spread far and wide the teachings of the 
Catholic church. Many were attracted to missionary work in 
distant lands ; for example, the first white men to explore the 
Mississippi valley were Jesuits. They were not only preachers 
and confessors, but educators as well; and Loyola alone is 
credited with the founding of more than a hundred schools and 
colleges. It was a part of their work to conduct impassioned 
religious revivals among peasants and townsfolk. They stood 
on the curbstones at the corners of streets. Here they beck- 
oned with their hats and called aloud to the passers-by. When 
a small crowd gathered they began their talks. They did not 



' The Jesuits, Philip II 303 

preach theology but told of the Ten Commandments. In 
France, where religion became a political question, Jesuits 
entered politics and became confidential advisers of the king. 
Their efforts succeeded, too, in bringing many wavering Ger- 
man princes back to the fold of Catholicism. 

334. Philip II of Spain (1556-1598). — Catholicism found 
another champion in Philip II of Spain (§ 305). His dearest 
hope was to reunite Christendom. In order to stamp out 
heresy in his own vast dominions he revived the use of the 
Inquisition (§ 191). This institution was set in operation for 
converting or exterminating the Moors, Jews, and Protestants 
of his realm. Some were put to death and others fled from the 
country. Many of these people were skilled artisans, or farmers 
who had converted the arid slopes of Spain into productive 
fields. Through the persecutions industries and agriculture 
were well nigh ruined, and Spain was deprived of a large class 
of her useful citizens. Philip's attempt to crush the Protestant 
revolt in the Netherlands, however, made little headway, as 
will soon be explained. 

335. Character of the Netherlands. — A Venetian ambassa- 
dor of that time tells us that " the Netherlands comprise 
thirteen provinces. . . . The atmosphere is heavy and the 
sky almost always overcast. Owing to the frequent changes 
in the wind, one has warm weather and cold several times in 
the same day. Flanders abounds in various commodities, but 
produces no wine. Artois raises more grain than all the rest 
of the country together. Holland enjoys an income of 800,000 
crowns 1 yearly from its butter and cheese." 

The southern part of the Netherlands, the district now occu- 
pied by the kingdom of Belgium, was noted for its manufactures. 
It swarmed with men who practised all the useful arts. This 
region remained faithful to the Catholic church. On the other 
hand, the inhabitants of the seven northern provinces — 
Holland — were for the most part farmers and fishermen. They 
had always been obliged to struggle against the sea, for much 
of their land was below sea level. As a result the Dutch were 

1 A crown is five English shillings, or about $1.21. 



304 Religious Wars 

hard-working and persevering. Thus they possessed in their 
own character something better than material prosperity. 

336. Founding of the Dutch Republic (1581). — Among 
these people Protestantism had made great headway. In his 
attempt to suppress heresy in these provinces Philip met with 
stubborn resistance. His answer was to send a stern general 
with orders to exterminate the guilty rebels and to confiscate 
their property. The command was carried out so harshly that 
the Dutch finally declared their independence (1581). The 
thirty-years' struggle between the Dutch patriots and the most 
able generals of the mighty Spanish army, was waged on both 
sides with relentless fury. The excesses of the Spaniards were 
especially brutal, but the stubborn heroism of the sturdy Dutch 
has hardly been- matched in all history. As the war went on, 
the Dutch more than held their own, thanks to timely aid from 
England. Finally they achieved their independence (1609). 

337. The Fate of Spain. — Meantime Philip, angry at Eng- 
lish interference in the Dutch rebellion, sent his enormous navy, 
known as the Armada, against a hastily gathered fleet of Eng- 
lish merchant vessels. The utter destruction of the Armada 
by the swifter and better-manned English ships (§ 372) forever 
weakened Spain's supremacy on the seas. Although she contin- 
ued to hold her colonial possessions, from this time on she sank 
rapidly into a second rate power. Her downfall may be traced 
solely to mismanagement at the hands of her rulers — to their 
persecutions and their wrong economic policy (,§§ 303-7). 
For many years afterward she continued to receive her revenue 
from the riches of the New World, but she failed to develop 
the industrial life which alone could insure true national pros- 
perity. 

338. Religious Wars in France (1 562-1 598). — While Philip 
was conducting these dreadful persecutions in his own domains, 
a religious war was raging in France. The Calvinists of this 
country were called Hu'gue-nots. Their numbers were made 
up largely of converts from the nobles and the wealthy middle 
class, and they therefore constituted a powerful element in the 
state. It chanced that rival families contended for the throne, 



Wars in France and Germany 305 

one supported by Huguenots with some Catholics, while the 
remaining Catholics sided with the other. There ensued a long 
civil war, marked on both sides by terrible slaughter. The 
result was a compromise. The young Huguenot leader, Henry 
IV, ascended the throne, but at the same time accepted Cathol- 
icism.' In this way he ended the civil war and gave peace once 
more to his distracted country. By the Edict of Nantes (1598) 
the Huguenots were granted full toleration, and certain garri- 
sons were handed over to them as security for their rights. 
Henry IV proved to be one of the greatest and most beloved of 
French kings. He set about the restoration of prosperity to his 
country after its long and desolating civil war. Roads and 
canals were built, new trades were fostered, and industry, which 
had been abandoned for forty years, was now resumed with 
such energy that it made wonderful progress. 

339. Thirty Years' War (1618-1648). — Originally a con- 
flict between the Catholic and Protestant princes of Germany, 
the Thirty Years' War came to involve every important nation 
in Europe. This long bloody struggle was fought almost wholly 
on German territory. It is difficult to imagine the wretched 
condition of this country at the close of hostilities. Half the 
population and two thirds of the personal property had been 
swept away. Farmers ceased to labor when they found- that 
year after year their crops were seized by marauders. While 
in this way agriculture came almost to a standstill, the effects 
of the war on industry, learning, and morals were even more 
disastrous. The fine arts, and the cities which were their 
home, disappeared. Trades were no longer pursued. The 
education of the younger generation, which survived the war, 
was neglected. Moral laws were forgotten, and vice openly 
prevailed. Civilization, which had made encouraging gains 
before the war, received a check from which it was slow to 
recover. The condition of the peasants, too, remained wretched 
for two centuries longer. 

340. Treaty of Westphalia (1648). — After the war had 
drawn to a close through the exhaustion of all combatants, a 
treaty was drawn up at West-pha'li-a by representatives from 



306 Religious Wars 

almost every European power. It provided that each reigning 
prince should be free to choose Catholicism, or Lutheranism, or 
Calvinism for the religion of his subjects. Thus it was by no 
means a victory for liberty of conscience. Those, however, 
who were unwilling to conform to the state worship were to be 
allowed to emigrate within five years. The same treaty marked 
the end of the period of religious wars. Countries had taken 
their stand definitely for or against Catholicism, and the people 
were no longer disposed to fight over the question. 

The political provisions of the treaty were also of vast im- 
portance, as they remained substantially unchanged for two 
centuries. The independence of Switzerland and Holland 
was definitely recognized. This event marked the decline of 
Spain and of the Holy Roman Empire. At the same time 
France acquired the province of Al-sace', and long afterward 
Lor-raine', of Germany. With the decline of Spain, France 
became the chief power on the Continent ; and this position 
she held till early in the nineteenth century. 

Topics for Reading 

For a Catholic view of the following topics, Baudrillart, A., The Catholic 
Church, the Renaissance and Protestantism, see Contents. 

I. Savonarola. — Cambridge Modem History, I. ch. v ; Symonds, 
Renaissance, ch. v; Lindsay, History of the Reformation, I. 158-63 

II. Social and Economic Conditions in Germany. — Robinson, 
Readings, II. 94-108 ; Schapiro, Social Reform and the Reformation, 
see Contents. 

III. Martin Luther. — Robinson, II. 53-93; Hayes, Political 
and Social History of Modem Europe, I. 124-39; Cambridge Modern 
History, II. ch. iv ; Lindsay, History of the Reformation, I. 189-416; 
Beard, C, Martin Luther and the Reformation in Germany, see Con- 
tents; Smith, Martin Luther, see Contents; McGiffert, Luther, the 
Man and his Work, see Contents. 

IV. John Calvin. — Robinson, II. 112-34; Hayes, I. 139-48; 
Cambridge Modem History, II. ch. xi ; Stone, Reformation and Renais- 
sance, chs. viii, ix; Lindsay, II. 61-135. 

V. The Catholic Revival. — Robinson, II. 156-65 ; Sedgwick, Short 
History of Italy, ch. xxix; Stone, ch. xii; Lindsay, II. bk. vi. 



Studies 307 

Review 

1. Contrast the Germany of this period with France or England. 
2. Describe the political disunion of Germany. 3. Explain the 
attitude of the princes toward the Church. How far is the explana- 
tion economic? 4. Trace the rise of industry and commerce. 5. 
What effect had this development on the condition of cities and of 
city life? 6. Give an account of the monopolies. 7. What criticism 
does Luther make on the dealings of the merchants? 8. Describe 
the life of the peasants ; the village and its government. 9. Give an 
account of the peasant's cottage and garden. 10. What were his recre- 
ations? 11. Describe the early life and education of Martin Luther. 
What were his experiences as a monk? 12. What were indulgences? 
Why did Luther protest against them? 13. What differences arose 
between him and the Church? 14. What was a diet? What were 
some of the questions that engaged the Diet of Worms? How did it 
treat Luther? 15. What contribution did Luther make to German 
literature? Describe the growth of the book-trade. 16. What 
appeal was made to the peasants? How were they roused against 
priest and prince? 17. What were the Twelve Articles? Describe 
the peasants' revolt. 18. What was Luther's attitude toward the 
revolt? 19. Who were the Protestants (p. 297, n. 2) ? What compro- 
mise was brought about between them and the Catholics? 20. Who 
was John Calvin? 21. Describe the system of government which 
he devised for Geneva. 22. How were the rules enforced? 23. What 
were the elements of democracy in this system ? 24. Give an account 
of the extension of Calvinism outside of Geneva. What were its effects 
abroad? 25. What was the work of the Council of Trent ? 26. Give 
an account of the Society of Jesus, and of its work throughout the 
world. 27. Describe the religious activities of Philip II of Spain. 
28. Describe the Netherlands and their inhabitants. How were they 
affected by the religious question? 29. Sketch the rise of the Dutch 
Republic. 30. Through what causes and to what extent was Spain 
declining? 31. Give an account of the religious wars in France. 
What was the outcome? 32. What were the nature and effects of 
the Thirty Years' War? 33. What were the provisions of the Peace 
of Westphalia? What is the importance of this treaty? 

Additional Studies 

1. What do we mean by the statement that Germany remained 
feudal? What are the characteristics of feudalism (earlier ch.)? 2. 
What was the Holy Roman Empire? 3. What goods did Germany 
probably import from the East (ch. xvi) ? 4. Collect the several 
indications (§ 310) that Germany was passing from mediaeval to modern 
conditions. 5. In honesty how did the German merchants compare 



308 Religious Wars 

with the English? 6. How did the peasant life of Germany in this 
period compare with that of the Middle Ages? 7. What indications 
are there in this chapter and elsewhere that in this period the son of a 
peasant might become educated and influential? 8. What was the 
religious cause of "the Protestant revolt, and what were the political 
and economic causes? Which were the more weighty? 9. Compare 
the peasants' revolt in Germany with that in England in the Hundred 
Years' War, with reference to causes, character, and results. 10. 
How did Calvinism differ from Lutheranism? Which was the more 
democratic, and in what respect? 11. Which was the more widely 
influential? 12. In what degree was the Catholic reformation due 
to the Protestant revolt, and in what degree to the general causes that 
were everywhere making for reform? 13. What was the religious 
outcome of the whole reform movement? What are the advantages 
and the evils of a disunited Chistendom? 14. Would a union of 
all Christian sects now be beneficial to the world? Give reasons for 
your opinion. 15. What were the political effects of the reform move- 
ment? 16. Write a syllabus of this chapter. 17. Write an essay on 
one of the Reading Topics. 



CHAPTER XXI 

SOCIAL LIFE IN FRANCE 

From the Middle Ages to the Revolution 

About 1350 to 1789 

341. Migration of the Nobles to the Capital. — As the power 
gradually concentrated in the hands of the king with the pass- 
ing of centuries, a great change came over country life. The 
king extended his protecting hand over the entire realm ; and 
for that reason it was no longer necessary for the nobles to 
maintain strong defences for themselves and their dependents. 
The mediaeval castles accordingly fell to ruin. Since the Middle 
Ages, too, the king had been building up a magnificent court, 
to be described hereafter (§ 423) ; and for his society he needed 
the constant attendance of a throng of lords and ladies. Thus 
it was that many nobles, putting their country estates in the 
hands of stewards, deserted their castles to flock to the royal 
court. This was especially true of France, where in course 
of generations the kings were making their capital, Paris, a 
brilliant city. They were usually the more wealthy or the 
more ambitious who migrated to the city, leaving the poorer 
and the more conservative families of their class behind them. 

342. The Average Rural Nobility. — The average noble 
family of the country lived in meagre circumstances. Abandon- 
ing the greater part of the castle to ruins, they occupied a 
limited group of rooms, which they kept in poor repair. Nearby 
were the muddy duckpond and the dilapidated sheds for cattle 
and fowls. The floors were bare, the rooms cold and damp. 
The servants clattered along the floor in wooden shoes. In a 
certain castle of this description the furniture consisted simply 

309 



310 Life in France 

of a table, two chairs, a salt-cellar, a goblet, a few pewter plates, 
and three silver spoons. Rarely could such a family afford 
tapestries. For finery the ladies wore the brocades inherited 
from their grandmothers. The ordinary dress was homespun ; 
and a new suit made an epoch in a man's life. His children 
grew up half -clothed, and perpetually soiled with the filth of 




A Dilapidated Home 

In France. A copperplate engraving from a sketch made shortly before the revolu- 
tion. It well illustrates the decay of rural life. 

the farmyard. There were few if any books in the house; 
education was held in contempt, and the children barely learned 
to read and write. 

These people kept their pride of descent, and welcomed guests 
with dignified hospitality. The visitor from the city to his 
country cousin, however, found little comfort in his enter- 
tainment. Perhaps he sat before a fireplace furnished with 
logs too green to yield aught but smoke, or was disturbed by 
the awkwardness and uproar of the servants as they chased 



Country Nobles 311 

through the living room the goose that was to be served to 
him for dinner. 

343. The Progressive Rural Nobles. — It is clear that much 
of the discomfort and want on the manors described above was 
due to the ignorance and sloth of the owners. There remained, 
on the other hand, a goodly number of nobles who were edu- 
cated, intelligent, and enterprising, whose estates were well- 
kept. Those who could afford it had their castles made over 
in the style of the day, with high-pointed roofs, and far more 
comfortably furnished. By careful attention ' to their lands 
they were able to sell their produce in the markets and fairs; 
so that considerable money came into their hands, and thus 
they could educate their children, clothe them neatly, and 
buy a few luxuries for the house. Often the lord had to be 
absent in war, while the lady manfully supervised all the labors 
of the estate and attended personally to the varied business. 
In her diary one tells how she made up her old dresses into 
clothes for the young son, or how she let out a part of the castle 
to merchants for storing goods for a fair, so that she was able 
with the proceeds to buy twelve ivory-handled knives, or how 
she resisted the encroachment of neighbors on her land. 
Another during the absence of her husband rode about the 
estate wearing a sword with which she fought robbers and on 
one occasion punished an insolent knight. The lord, when at 
home, varied the labors of the farm with a hunt in the woods ; 
and in the evening by the blazing fireplace he sat reading to 
his wife "some good book that pointed out the fair road to 
virtue." The enterprise and good will of such a man were 
revealed in the prosperity and happiness of his servants, tenants, 
and the entire village lying on or near his estate. 

344. The Peasants ; their Cottages. — Gradually most of 
the peasants of western Europe were freed from serfdom; 
they were no longer bound for life to the soil, though the ma- 
jority were still obliged to live as tenants, rendering to the 
lord nearly the same dues and honors as in the Middle Ages. 
The peasant family lived in a cabin sided up with rough boards 
and thatched with straw. It was windowless and dark, and 



312 Life in France 

in winter extremely uncomfortable, a mere den as we should 
call it. The floor was of earth, and the ceiling scarcely higher 
than the peasant's head. On one side was a large fireplace, 
furnished with its pot-hanger, kettle, and meat-hook. Here 
the peasant family, like that of the noble, gathered on a winter 
evening to keep warm, to talk, and say their prayers. 

The furniture, far scantier and poorer than that of the noble, 
included a table, one or two benches, baskets, jugs, and a cup- 
board. Sometimes there was one huge bed in which parents 
and children slept together ; in other houses cots were let into 
the walls like berths in a ship cabin. 

345. The Peasant's Livelihood. — Near the dwelling stood 
the granary, and the stable for the hay and cattle. The peasant 
ground his grain by hand at home or sent it to the village miller. 
In like manner his wife usually took her dough to the lord's 
oven to be baked. For such services the peasant paid a tax. 
Among his tools were an axe for cutting wood, and a plough, 
spade, hoe, and scythe for tilling the fields and gathering in 
the crop. 

The peasant cultivated oats, barley, millet, rye, and wheat. 
Bread could be made from all these articles, but wheat bread 
alone was considered palatable by the well-to-do. A diet of 
barley bread was a punishment imposed upon ill-behaved 
monks. Physicians recommended bread in part or whole of 
rye for health and for the preservation of beauty in women. 
Yeast was hardly known till the sixteenth century; and un- 
leavened bread was generally baked in thin flat loaves that 
they might be used as plates, on which other foods could be 
placed. Before the end of the meal they were so soaked with 
juices that they could be eaten with relish. 

346. Vegetables and Fruits. — Among the vegetables grown 
from the time of Charlemagne were garlic, onions, peas, beans, 
parsley, lettuce, cabbage, artichokes, in brief nearly every- 
thing known to us. Indian corn and potatoes were introduced 
from America after its discovery. People thought that vege- 
tables lacked nutrition; and monks, when compelled to ex- 
treme abstinence, had to subsist wholly on them. In like 



Articles of Food 



3i3 



manner most of the fruits of the temperate zone known to us 
to-day grew in the garden of Charlemagne, and have been 
cultivated throughout western Europe from that day to this. 
The greater number were not native to Europe but had been 
transplanted from Asia and Africa. Oranges were introduced 
into southern Europe no later than the fourteenth century. 
Olives, figs, pears, and apples were cultivated in Greece from 
the earliest times. In the course of centuries great progress 
was made in developing fine varieties of fruits, particularly 
of plums, pears, and apples. In addition to wild cherries 
there were several domestic 
varieties. The most valuable 
of all fruits was the quince, 
which was preserved for win- 
ter and used in seasoning 
meats. Raspberries and 
strawberries were but gradu- 
ally introduced into gardens. 
The vine had been brought to 
France from Italy in ancient 
times, and many varieties 
were now cultivated. Wines 
were made; and grapes, as 
well as apples, plums, and 
other fruits, were dried for 
winter use. 

347. Nuts, Meat, and Milk. 
— The oak was a common forest tree; and the Gauls and 
Germans while still uncivilized had been extensive acorn-eaters. 
When other crops failed, people of this period resorted to the 
same food. Other nuts, as the pistachio and filbert, were 
introduced from southeastern Europe and Asia. Chestnuts 
were transplanted from Italy to France and Germany. 

The meat in most common use from earliest times was pork ; 
and the peasants of every lord included at least one swineherd. 
He drove his flock into the woods, where throughout the sum- 
mer they picked up a meagre living, and in the autumn grew 




A Swineherd and his Flock 

The animals are half-wild, of light 
weight, and producing a poor quality of 
pork. From a miniature; Lacroix, 
'Manners and Customs.' 



314 , Life in France 

fat on the abundant acorns. The hogs were then killed and 
salted for winter use. Every peasant family that could afford 
it killed and salted one pig a year. Often a village rented of 
the lord the privilege of herding swine in his forest. The hogs 
of the tradespeople and nobles roamed at large through the 
streets of villages and towns, acting as willing scavengers of 
the garbage thrown out from the dwellings; and it was with 
great difficulty that the French king eliminated the pigs from 
the streets of Paris. " If I were a lord," exclaimed a peasant 
epicure, " I would eat pork soup every day." It rarely hap- 
pened that he got meat any day but Sunday, and in poor 
districts a man could have it only on Shrove Tuesday, Easter, 
and the feast day of his patron saint. Chickens, ducks and 
geese were reared, but mainly for the lord. The peasants 
kept sheep and had milk from the goat or cow, but beef and 
mutton belonged to the nobility. 

348. Degrees of Prosperity. — Among the peasants, as 
among the rural nobles, there were degrees of ability; and 
this fact, added to other helping or hindering conditions, brought 
about great differences in prosperity. In some districts the 
traveler might enter a peasant's living-room, which was kitchen, 
dining-room, and bed-room combined, and find it stocked with 
" shining tin saucepans," massive corniced cupboards, four- 
poster beds hung with colored serge curtains, the dining table 
covered with a cloth and even furnished with napkins. Gener- 
ally these were the families that owned the lands which they 
tilled. Luxuries, however, reached down to so low a social 
class that townspeople demanded that " servants and maids 
be forbidden to wear silk, silver, and any kind of dress unbe- 
coming their condition." Such peasants could eat meat every 
Sunday, and at weddings and wakes they could add a little 
wine to their repast. Luxury and prosperity, however, were 
the exception rather than the rule. 

349. Rural Education. — After the invention of printing 
and the cheapening of books it was possible for the well-to-do 
and the more ambitious peasants to learn to read and write. 
From the time of Luther and John Calvin many French peasants 



Education 



315 



deserted Catholicism for the new faith — that is, they became 
Huguenots. After a time Louis XIV by proclamation ordered 
the establishment of a school in every village, where the peasant 
children should learn the catechism and other essentials of 
Catholic religion. Here, too, they were to learn reading and 
writing (1698). Although the poverty of the country pre- 
vented the order from being well carried out, it doubtless gave 
a little encouragement to education. The priests, too, instructed 




A Schoolroom 
In France before the revolution. From Lacroix, 'XVIII me siecle.' 



the more promising boys of their parishes. The great majority, 
however, remained illiterate. 

350. Professions among the Peasantry. — The schoolmaster 
was himself a peasant, who gave the summer to farm labor and 
the winter to the instruction of the village children, including 
those of the lord. He was the possessor of perhaps a half 
dozen books, and from our own point of view would be con- 
sidered exceedingly ignorant. Lacking skill in teaching, he 
administered blows in plenty; and thus with violence he in- 



316 



Life in France 



stilled in his pupils a wretched smattering pf knowledge along 
with a horror of books. The notary, too, and the physician 
were of the same class, men whose learning placed them a 
trifle above their fellows. The surgeon was primarily a barber 
or hairdresser, who applied his knife or shears with equal skill 
to defects of the body. Such men were poorly paid, and ranked 

with the servants rather 
than with the lords. 
The cu-re, or priest, 
though a peasant, was 
somewhat above the 
rest. He sat in church 
while the aristocrats 
knelt; but outside the 
sacred building the 
nobles compromised 
between his peasant 
birth and his position 
as ambassador of God. 
Some village priests 
were lazy, ignorant, and 
superstitious ; many 
were sympathetic, help- 
ful leaders of their 
people. 

351. Greater Misery 
than Happiness. - — As 
a rule life was more 
endurable on estates 
whose masters were at hand; for the negligent and slothful 
were at least not harsh taskmasters or stern creditors. The 
stewards of absentee lords, however, made it their business 
to exact as much as possible with a minimum of outlay ; and 
their dealings with the peasants revealed neither sympathy 
nor mercy. The weight of taxes and other dues, unfairly 
distributed, overburdened the laborers, cramped their intelli- 
gence, and robbed them of the better elements of human nature. 




A Poor Man and Boy 

In France. They have wooden shoes stuffed 
with straw, which helps protect the feet from 
freezing. Their clothes are in tatters; it is 
winter, and they are suffering from the cold. 
From Lagniet, ' Proverbes joyeux.' 



Misery 



3 J 7 



A contemporary writer describes them as " wild animals, male 
and female, scattered over the country, black, livid, and sun- 
burnt all over, allied to the earth, which they search and rake up 
with invincible persistence. They have, as it were, an articulate 
voice ; and when they rise to their feet, they show a human face. 
They are in fact men. At night they get them away to their 
dens, where they live on black bread, water, and roots." 

352. Ignorance and Dulness. — On the eve of the revolu- 
tion (1789) an English traveller, Arthur Young, thus writes of a 
place which he visited : " Here are two parishes and some 




A Bourgeois Marriage Contract 

In France. On our right is the engaged couple ; in front are two little girls of 
the family. Round the table sit the parents with a notary arranging for the dowry. 
A family of the middle class often aimed to gain through marriage either wealth 
or social position. Lacroix, ' XVIII me si&cle.' 

thousands of inhabitants, and riot a newspaper to be seen by a 
traveller, even in a moment when all ought to be anxiety. What 
stupidity, poverty, and want of circulation ! This people 
hardly deserve to be free ; and should there be the least attempt 
with vigor to keep them otherwise, it can hardly fail of succeed- 
ing. To those who have been used to travel amidst the ener- 
getic and rapid circulation of wealth, animation, and intelligence 
of England, it is not possible to describe in words adequate to 
one's feelings the dulness and stupidity of France." 

353. The Growth of Towns and of the Bourgeois Class. — 
It has already been explained (§ 225 ff.) that the change from 



3i8 



Life in France 




mediaeval to modern life consisted largely in the growth of 
towns and cities, and the development of an urban economy 
founded on commerce and industry. Necessarily the cities 
were recruited from the country; and the peasants with the 
ability and. inclination for the various urban employments 
abandoned the fields to swell the population of the towns. 
Thus they became burghers, bourgeois (collectively bourgeoisie). 
There were small bourgeois — shopkeepers, smiths, millers, 
and other artisans — in the peasant villages. There were 
families of the same class but of far greater wealth and im- 
portance in the numerous 
towns that grew up over 
the entire realm of France, 
as over other countries of 
western Europe. 

354. Paris. — The great- 
est French city, however, 
was Paris, a description of 
which may serve as typical 
of city life for the period 
now under consideration. 
At the beginning of the 
seventeenth century it had 
a population of nearly 
900,000, lodged in some 
50,000 houses. Most of the buildings were six or seven stories 
high. Apartments or single rooms, unfurnished or ill-furnished, 
were let out to families or to individuals. To the visitor, the 
most striking feature was the extent to which life was passed 
in the streets, as it is even now in Naples. Children were 
playing and screaming, women knitting, sewing, and gossiping. 
There were youths and girls engaged in flirtations, shopkeepers 
discussing trade, nobles moving about on foot or in carriages, 
exchanging compliments and court news, and hawkers of every 
description shouting the praises of their wares. Wagons, loaded 
with provisions, rumbled over the cobblestone pavement, 
bespattering bystanders with mud from the gutter, or a washer- 



Parisian Types 

From left to right: (1) a water carrier; 

(2) a cobbler who has made a purchase; 

(3) a woman pedler of cloth; (4) a fish- 
woman. The women think the cobbler a 
dunce to have made so poor a bargain. 
From Lagniet, 'Proverbes joyeux.' 



Crime 



3i9 



woman, emptying her soiled soapsuds from an upper window, 
ruined the new clothes and costly feather of a local fop. 

355. The Prevalence of Crime. — Another feature of Paris 
was its insecurity. At night the streets were dark. The regu- 
lation requiring the people to keep a lighted candle in every 
window was neglected; and even when street lamps were 
introduced, about the middle of the seventeenth century, they 




A Street in Paris • 

An artist is moving his residence. He and his wife and furniture are conveyed in 
a cart drawn by young men. The roughness of the street, the abundance of dogs, 
and the attitudes and occupations of the various persons form an interesting study. 
From Lacroix, 'XVIII me siecle.' 



gave but an occasional and feeble light, contrasting with " the 
great white ways " of the present electric age. Under cover 
of this total or partial darkness thieves and robbers plied their 
trade unchecked. At one time there were nearly 10,000 people 
of this class, recruited especially from discharged soldiers and 
men without work. They were organized in societies so strong 
as to defy the police and military power and to commit murder 
in daylight. More dangerous than these professional assassins 



320 



Life in France 



were the sorcerers and fortune-tellers who sold philters and 
poisons to men or women who desired to win the love of another 
or be rid of a husband, wife, or rival. Such intrigues were 
carried on in the court and even in the household of the king. 

356. The Guilds and the Artisans. — The artisans and mer- 
chants were banded together in guilds according to their voca- 
tion. In the seventeenth century there were in France more 
than fifteen hundred associations of the kind, each restricted 
to its narrow field of business. All were 
under minute regulations and paid fees 
to the king, and bribes to his deputies 
for the privileges they enjoyed. Not- 
withstanding these regulations there 
were interminable bickerings and law- 
suits among tradespeople over their 
rights. Each society held periodical 
meetings, in which the members discussed 
their common interests ; and on state 
occasions they appeared together in 
public with their appropriate uniforms 
and emblems. The guild strove to 
maintain not only an excellent quality 
of its wares but a good moral character 
for its members. No one was admitted 
unless he could prove for himself an 
honorable name and reputation. A 
member guilty of a serious fault in 
word or act was liable to a fine, flog- 
ging, or expulsion. At the same time 
they acted as mutual aid societies in cases of sickness or 
death. Naturally these high ideals were not always main- 
tained; too often their fraternal meetings degenerated to 
drunkenness. Little was done to shorten the day of the laborer. 
In the case of a certain guild it was provided only that he 
should not begin work before 4 a.m. and should not close later 
than 9 p.m., thus giving him seventeen hours, including meal- 
times. He slept in the bare attic of his master's house or in a 




A Potter at Work 

Sixteenth century. He 
sits with his wheel before 
him and holds admiringly 
a shapely vase. His shop 
is well stocked with prod- 
ucts. From 'Album his- 
torique.' 



Artisans 



321 



similar room elsewhere, and subsisted on bread and vegetables. 
His ambition was to save money so as to set up a shop for 
himself; but too often he drank up his earnings on Sunday 
and the numerous holidays prescribed by the Church. 

357. Master Artisans and Merchants. — The masters them- 
selves generally lived in comfort with their families, and the 
successful merchants piled up wealth. Not content with fine 
houses sumptuously furnished, they sought noble husbands, 
even though penniless, for their daughters; and engaged 




A French Tavern 
From an edition of Vergil, Lyons, 1517; used byLacroix, 'Manners and Customs.' 



pedigree-mongers and painters to prepare a family-tree and a 
gallery of ancestral portraits for themselves, while their wives, 
sons, and daughters, by aping the mannerisms and fopperies 
of the court, tried to pass themselves off in the crowd as mem- 
bers of the nobility. These extravagances brought many a 
household to financial ruin. As a substitute for genuine en- 
joyment they made their lives as artificial as possible. 

358. Negligent Treatment of Children. — A reason for this 
peculiar condition may be found in the lack of sound education 



322 Life in France 

and in the general neglect of children. Rarely did a parent, 
however noble or wealthy, bestow more than an occasional 
thought upon his children. Usually they were placed in charge 
of nurses and governesses, who were themselves too ignorant 
and too bent on their own selfish pleasures to give proper 
attention to those under their care. Some parents did not 
know their children even by sight. A certain noble lady saw 
her children but twice daily, morning and evening, when she 
would say to them merely : " Stand straight, hold your heads 
up ! " Her only desire was that they might learn the artificial 
manners of the time, so as to appear well in society. Under 
these conditions the majority learned to read and write badly, 
and nothing more. Flattered and indulged by those in charge, 
they grew up egotistic, selfish, and violent in temper. The 
fact is that very few persons in this age understood that child- 
hood was the formative period of life, that it was anything but 
a negative valueless stage of existence to bring the child through 
with the least possible trouble to others. 

359. Education ; University and Colleges. — Naturally there 
were a few parents who treated their children with wisdom and 
affection ; there were some even among the poor who were 
determined to give their sons the best possible education both 
elementary and advanced. A great centre of learning was the 
University of Paris, in which the youths lodged, ate, and studied. 
The course of six years was devoted mainly to the classic Latin 
authors, with some Greek literature in the higher classes. This 
course could be followed by a two-year study of philosophy, 
mainly Aristotle. In spite of severe regulations the students 
lived slovenly, lawless lives, sometimes going to the extent of 
street riots. 

The University was outri vailed by the Jesuit colleges. Here, 
too, the education was mainly Latin, but the instructors were 
able to make it attractive, so that many students actually en- 
joyed their work. Along with their book learning they re- 
ceived careful training in habits and manners, so that they 
emerged perfect gentlemen, adaptable, polished, and self- 
controlled. 



Girls 



3 2 3 



360. Education of Girls. — Far more restricted was the 
education of girls. Those who' married- at fourteen or fifteen 
could talk on no serious topic, and were necessarily ignorant 
of household management. The standard of attainment was 
exceedingly low. A girl who could spell correctly, it was 




Governess and Pupil 

Many children were privately educated, boys by preceptors, girls by governesses. 
It was difficult to find instructors qualified in character and knowledge for their 
duty, and those who were well fitted received scant respect from their employers and 
pupils. From Lacroix, 'XVIII m e si&cle.' 



thought, should make some mistakes in spelling in order not 
to appear pedantic; and if she possessed accurate knowledge 
of any subject, she should conceal the fact ; for no one liked 
learned girls. All were of the opinion that the intellectual 
capabilities of women were distinctly inferior to those of men. 



324 



Life in France 



Archbishop Fen-e-lon', finding the women of society ignorant, 
set forth principles for their instruction which for that age were 
wholesome. He wished them to have knowledge that would 
be helpful to them in the household and in social conversation, 
yet not enough to make them appear pedantic. He explained 




A Patient and Two Physicians 

Middle of the eighteenth century, France. Notice the foppery of the doctors and 
the sad condition of the sick man. From a contemporary engraving, afterward 
used in the illustration of La Fontaine, 'Fables.' 



further that the education of the young should be made at- 
tractive; that the child should be kept well and happy, that 
the teacher should strive to make himself loved by the pupils. 
These were relatively new ideas. About the same time a great 
lady at the court, who in her younger days had suffered from 



Professions 325 

poverty, founded a college for poor girls of noble birth. It was 
conducted on principles somewhat inferior to those of Fenelon. 
The pupils were watched over strictly and urged to enter a 
convent; but the girl who finished her course and went out 
into the world was given a moderate dowry. 

361. Desirable Careers; Medicine and Hygiene. — The 
eldest son in a noble family was destined for the army. He 
bought his commission as an officer, and was wholly ignorant 
of his duties, until a reform was instituted requiring all to 
have a year of military training before becoming officers. The 
younger sons sought high positions in the Church. A bishop, 
archbishop, or cardinal required little special education, for 
there were plenty of scholars to do their learned work for them. 
In spite of intellectual slothfulness advances were made in 
botany, chemistry, and medicine. Superstitious cures were 
still common; for the cure of lameness a certain lady buried 
a bunch of herbs twice daily in her garden, and for fever a 
reputable physician advised applying a split herring tail down- 
ward to the patient's backbone. In general, however, doctors 
were introducing scientific methods of administering drugs, 
while entertaining the crudest •notions of hygiene. A common 
device was to confine the patient in a closed room which ad- 
mitted neither air nor light. The neglect of hygiene by all 
persons sick and well and the excesses to which nearly all, 
according to their means, were prone, brought them to pre- 
mature old age, to physical collapse, and often enough to 
insanity. 

Topics for Reading 

I. The Country and the Peasants. — Hugon, Social France in the 
Seventeenth Century, chs. vi, viii ; Lowell, Eve of the French Revolution, 
ch. xiii. 

II. Provincial Towns. — Lowell, ch. xii; Young, A., Travels in 
France (Bohn Libr.), see page-headings, Rheims, Marseilles, Lyons, 
etc. 

III. Paris. — Hugon, ch. v; Lowell, ch. xi; Young, 89 fL, 287 ff. 

IV. The Nobility. — Hugon, chs. i, ii ; Lowell, ch. vi. 

V. European Society in the Eighteenth Century. — Hayes, Political 
and Social History of Modem Europe, I. ch. xiii. 



326 Life in France 

Review 

1. What changes in country life marked the transition from mediaeval 
to modern history (§ 341)? 2. Describe the dwelling, furniture, dress, 
and hospitality of the average rural nobility. 3. Contrast the condi- 
tion of the progressive nobles. 4. Describe the houses of the peasants. 
How far were the peasants subject to the lords? 5. What grains and 
live stock did the peasants produce? Describe their bread. 6. De- 
scribe their vegetables and fruits. 7. To what extent were nuts, 
meat, and milk articles of diet ? How were hogs reared and fed ? What 
meats were especially reserved for the lords? 9. What differences 
of condition were there among the peasants? 10. Describe the edu- 
cation of children. 11. To what professions did the peasants rise? 
How was this professional class regarded by the lords? 12. What 
facts point to " greater misery than happiness " in peasant life? 13. 
What contrast does Arthur Young draw between them and the common 
people of England? 14. How did towns grow up, and who formed 
their population? 15. Describe the appearance of Paris; life in the 
streets. 16. What provision was made for lighting? What was the 
extent of crime? Why was there so much of it? 17. What was the 
character of the guilds, and what did they accomplish? 18. Describe 
the comforts of master artisans and merchants. 19. How were children 
treated? 20. Describe the elementary education; the advanced 
education. 21. What were the old ideas as to the education of girls? 
What improvements were introduced? 22. What were desirable 
careers for the younger sons of nobles? What was the condition of 
the natural sciences? of medicine? 

Additional Studies 

1. Where did the nobles live during the Middle Ages? Why in the 
beginning of modern times did they tend to gather in the capital of 
the kingdom? 2. Why did the country nobles hold education in 
contempt? 3. Compare the life of the average rural noble with that 
of the average farmer of to-day. 4. On what did the prosperity of the 
noble family in the main depend? 5. In what did freedom from serf- 
dom consist? 6. In what respects, if in any, had the condition of the 
peasants improved since the Middle Ages? 7. What is in general 
the difference between wild and domestic fruit? Why did not Europe 
have more native fruits ? 8. Why were some peasants more prosperous 
than others? 9. Why was there more illiteracy in that period than 
there is at present? 10. Why were the English peasants in better 
condition than the French? 11. What are the most obvious differ- 
ences between city life of that time and of the present? 12. Did 
the attitude toward children have anything to do with other disagree- 
able features of the age? 13. Write a syllabus of the chapter. 14. 
Write an essay ©n one of the Reading Topics. 



CHAPTER XXII 
ENGLAND UNDER HENRY VIII AND ELIZABETH 

i 509-1 603 

362. The Break with Rome. — Early in the sixteenth cen- 
tury there arose in England a general feeling of hostility toward 
the Catholic church similar in most respects to that on the Con- 
tinent. In the first place the teachings of Lutheranism were 
finding their way across the Channel and were already per- 
suading a considerable number of people that Catholic doctrines 
were fundamentally wrong. Others believed that the clergy 
— particularly the bishops and abbots — needed a moral 
overhauling. The chief objections, however, were on politi- 
cal and economic grounds. At this time England was no 
longer a loose federation of feudal states in perpetual turmoil. 
Outside the church her great barons had been subdued and 
brought completely under the sway of the king, who established 
a real despotism under the cloak of constitutional government. 
This policy had the moral support of the powerful middle class, 
who, tired of civil war, wanted peace, which for them meant 
prosperity (§ 285). 

The church was the sole obstacle to the supremacy of the 
king. Its vast wealth was almost wholly exempt from taxa- 
tion, while a large part of its revenues constantly flowed into 
the coffers of a foreigner, the pope. Its officials could not be 
tried and punished in the ordinary courts of the realm, nor did 
the king have control over the bishops and abbots, the sole re- 
maining feudal lords. It was even a worse grievance that, on 
pretext of regulating , the morals of king and people, the pope 
could interfere almost at will in domestic politics. Briefly, a 

327 



328 Henry VIII 

clash between the international policy of the church and the 
national policy of the state was inevitable. 

In the early part of his reign Henry VIII (1 509-1 547) zeal- 
ously defended the Catholic cause and received from the pope 
in reward the title Defender of the Faith. His complete change 
of attitude, involving a break with Rome, was partly due to 
personal interests. He appealed to the pope for a divorce from 
his wife that he might marry a beautiful lady of his court. The 
pope could not see his way clear to grant this request. Henry, 
irritated by the refusal, was now convinced of the tyranny of 
Rome, and had his parliament pass a series of laws, which trans- 
ferred the control of the church in England to himself. One of 
them, the Act of Supremacy (1534), granting Henry the title 
of Supreme Head of the Church in England, completed the 
breach with Rome. 

363. The Destruction of Monasteries. — Two years later 
Henry ordered that the monasteries be dissolved. To a cer- 
tain extent their day of usefulness had passed away. At that 
time many of the monks were wealthy landowners, and cared 
more for increasing their revenues than for their religious 
duties. Many friars, too, had lost both their religious devo- 
tion and their love of learning, and were now mere beggars. 
Then, too, these classes had firmly opposed Henry's break with 
Rome, and still refused to recognize the Act of Supremacy. 
Henry's chief motive, however, was his need of funds to pay for 
the gayeties of court life. His orders to destroy the monasteries 
were carried out ruthlessly. Many conscientious monks and 
nuns were deprived of shelter and livelihood. The estates 
were confiscated by the Crown, which divided a large part of 
it among favorite courtiers. The lead, stone, and glass, to- 
gether with the roofs and walls, were sold as building materials. 
The gold, silver, and precious metals were taken to the royal 
treasury. 

364. The Establishment of a State Church. — So far the 
break with Rome had been solely political, for Henry was at 
heart a Catholic. It was only gradually that Protestant doc- 
trines made headway and came to supplant Catholic teachings. 



Religion 



329 



In the reign of Elizabeth the Church of England became defi- 
nitely what is known as Anglican, or Episcopalian. A standard 
prayerbook was adopted, whose forms had to be followed by 
all worshippers. Finally there was compiled a Creed of Thirty- 
Nine Articles (1563), a uniform doctrine to which every clergy- 
man had to subscribe. In order that the church might be 
truly national, laws were 
passed to make all subjects 
conform to the new faith. 
To dissent — to differ from 
the Anglican belief — was 
treason as well as heresy. 
A special court, resembling 
the Inquisition, was estab- 
lished to ferret out and pun- 
ish heretics. 

As a matter of fact this 
idea of conformity was accept- 
able to the mass of English- 
men, who cared less for 
religion than did the people 
on the Continent. There 
were, however, many Catho- 
lics — contemptuously 
termed " papists " — who 
could never be reconciled. 
A third class believed that 
further changes should be 
made. Because the latter 
wished to purify the Anglican 
church, they were called 
Puritans. They constantly increased in number, and half a cen- 
tury later were destined to play an important part in English his- 
tory. Generally speaking, however, a national unity in church 
and state was practically established for the time being. 

365. Queen Elizabeth (1558-1603). — - At the age of twenty- 
five Elizabeth, an intelligent, vigorous young woman, daughter 




Queen Elizabeth 

She wears a crown. About her neck is a 
necklace and an ample ruff made stiff with 
starch and wires. Over her breast is a 
long-peaked stomacher. Her skirt is sus- 
pended on enormous hoops, and is covered 
with decorations, including a vast quantity 
of jewels. This kind of dress existed before, 
but Elizabeth greatly exaggerated it. From 
a contemporary engraving. 



33° 



Queen Elizabeth 



of Henry VIII, ascended the throne. She had received a thor- 
ough education and possessed therefore a background of general 
knowledge. A splendid linguist, she could read, write, and 
speak equally well French, Latin, and Italian. She was the 
centre of a brilliant court, distinguished for humor and repartee. 
It is customary for people to idolize their sovereign and to 
emulate his virtues and vices. The strong personality of Eliza- 
beth was reflected accordingly in the conduct of her subjects. 
Like their sovereign, they were extremely practical in religious 

and political matters. 
Their business was 
frankly conducted for 
profit. In the same 
honest spirit they 
sought pleasure and 
amusement. In their 
gayety and light- 
heartedness the ob- 
server might detect a 
lack of refinement. 
For this reason " man- 
ners were at times 
unbecoming. Eliza- 
beth spat at a courtier 
whose coat offended 
her taste; she boxed 
the ears of another; 
she tickled the back of Leicester's neck when he knelt to receive 
his earldom; she rapped out tremendous oaths and uttered 
every sharp, amusing word that rose to her lips." l In fact' those 
nobles who did not swear were thought to be effeminate; it 
was considered evidence of genius to invent new oaths. Peas- 
ants, on the other hand, were fined for swearing. 

366. Industrial Regulations. — Elizabeth was a conscien- 
tious sovereign who wished all her subjects to be prosperous and 
happy. This condition she thought might be brought about by 
1 Traill, Social England, III. 384. 




Silk-winding 

One of the chief methods of spinning silk thread. 
Several natural filaments from the cocoons are 
gathered up and twisted in one continuous thread. 
In this period a silk industry began to develop in 
England. From Geffe, 'The Perfect Use of Silk- 
worms,' 1607. 



Economy 



33* 



government regulation. For the benefit of small farmers she 
proclaimed the Corn Laws, which forbade the importation of 
grain and thereby enabled the farmer to grow grain and sell it 
at a profit. 

Minute laws were passed, too, for the regulation of industries. 
" No person using the feat or mystery of cloth-making shall 
keep or have in his house any more than one woollen loom at a 
time on pain of a fine of twenty shillings." Those who wished 
to manufacture on a larger scale applied to the Crown for a 
charter; and for this privilege they paid a substantial fee. 
Merchants, such as haberdashers, saddlers, curriers, and shoe- 
dealers, were forced to do the same thing. In like manner the 
Crown attempted to re- 
strict certain manufactures 
to certain towns. Busi- 
ness men began to resent 
strongly this interference. 
The result was that they 
transferred their business 
to the country regions. 
In a certain town the citi- 
zens, who had previously 
built up a rope-making 
industry, complained that 
their town " was like to be utterly decayed owing to the competi- 
tion of people in the adjacent parts." 

367. Statute of Laborers (1601). — Because of the enclosures 
(§ 281) many laborers had lost their little gardens and were 
now dependent on wages alone ; but they received so little for 
their work that in many cases they failed to make a living. 
Elizabeth and her legislators showed a deep interest in their 
welfare. The Statute of Laborers admitted that wages " are 
in divers places too small and not answerable to this time, re- 
specting the advancement of prices of all things belonging to 
the said servants and laborers." This measure provided that 
in the future wages were to be fixed by the justices of the peace. 
These officers had to take into consideration " the price of food 




A Peasant's House 

In . the reign of Elizabeth. A barn-like 
building. The roof is thatched with straw. 
From 'Album historique.' 



332 



Queen Elizabeth 



and other circumstances necessary to be considered," and to 
make the scheme " yield the hired person, both in the time of 
need and time of plenty, a convenient proportion of wages." 

In many instances this plan worked well. It must be remem- 
bered, however, that the judges then were not so independent 
and so fair as they are to-day. A majority were either employers 
or their friends. While they were often good-hearted, it was 
to their interest to keep wages as low as possible. Too often 
their pocket-books got the better of their generosity. In many 

instances therefore this 
plan caused a decline in 
wages. Laborers without 
land or means of travel 
were forced to accept work 
from the nearest employer, 
however low the pay. 
Furthermore the workers 
were not permitted to join 
together in self-defence. 
It was a conspiracy, a legal 
offence, for them to enter 
into any association to 
raise the rate of wages. 
In the case of such unions 
members were induced to 
turn traitor and betray 
their fellows. 

368. Poverty and the Poor Laws (1601). — While the nobility 
and gentry became constantly richer, a majority of the laborers 
were in fair condition. The breach was gradually widening 
between rich and poor, however, for there was growing up a 
class of paupers. Among them, it is true, there were many 
undeserving beggars who became a nuisance to society and good 
order. They bore a hatred to all and were always ready to 
join in any riot or disorder. In times of peace they formed 
gangs of marauders who terrorized the countryside. Property 
and life were insecure. The innocent traveller on a country 




Rich Man and Poor Man 

"The rich man signifieth a proude man cov- 
etous ; the poor man signifieth the povertie gen- 
erale, whose petitions of such are not heard." 
From Bateman, ' Crystal Glass of the Christian 
Reformation,' i56g. Age of Elizabeth. 



Wages and Money 



333 




road was constantly in danger of being stripped of his valuables 
by one or more of these sturdy beggars. 

At the same time wages tended to drop and prices to rise. 
As a result poverty became more common. Humanity de- 
manded that the deserving poor be assisted, while there was an 
equally strong feeling that rogues and vagabonds be punished. 
The Poor Laws of Elizabeth resulted from these sentiments. 
Giving to the poor was no longer an act of Christian charity ; 
it became a compulsory tax upon the people of the realm. Each 
parish now had its poor rate for which property owners were 
assessed. These laws ordained further that 
" work was to be provided for those who 
could work, and relief for those who could 
not; poor children were to be trained to 
some craft ; and the idle were to be pun- 
ished." In spite of its defects this group 
of laws was an admirable attempt to lessen 
a great social evil. They remained in force 
until early in the nineteenth century. 

369. Reform of the Currency (1560). 
— When Elizabeth ascended the throne, her 
country was in an unsound financial condi- 
tion. Her predecessors had been in the 
habit of filling their empty coffers by using 
more and more alloy in their coinage. For 
example, the shilling of 1551 weighed as 
much as that of 1527 but contained only one seventh as much 
silver. Necessarily business men understood that some coins 
were worth less than others. Hence they charged different prices 
for their goods according to the coins that were offered them. 
Foreigners, too, looked askance at the bad coins. The general 
public naturally felt confused by the irregularity. Those who 
had good coins saved them or melted them down. The de- 
basement of the currency was detrimental to the laborer, for 
prices rose by leaps and bounds, and clothes and food became 
very dear. In 1560 the Queen asked her people to bring her 
their impure money. Their response was hearty and loyal, 



Elizabethan Coin 

A shilling, silver ; 
crowned head of the 
queen; Latin inscrip- 
tion signifying ' Eliza- 
beth, by the Grace of 
God Queen of England 
and of Ireland.' From 
Traill, ' Social Eng- 
land.' 



334 Queen Elizabeth 

for they were willing to bear their share of the loss. The govern- 
ment undertook the cost of refining and recoining. In this way 
Elizabeth averted a national disaster. 

370. An Era of Economic Progress. — There was a great 
increase in wealth during the reign of Elizabeth, due in large 
part to the intelligence and activity of her people, rich and poor 
alike. Manufacturers, capitalist farmers, merchants, and 
adventurers were especially energetic. England, too, was at 
peace ; she took little part in the religious conflicts then raging 
on the Continent. National expenditures were kept down. 
The debasement of the coinage came to an end. The government 
could now be trusted to pay its debts promptly, and therefore 
found it easy to borrow money at low rates of interest. 

Elizabeth aimed further to make England a power in world 
affairs. She saw, however, that it would be foolish for her 
country to continue its ancient struggle with France, for suprem- 
acy on the Continent would profit little. Because England 
was surrounded by water, Elizabeth reasoned that its strength 
should be on the sea. She therefore encouraged the construc- 
tion of merchant ships which, if necessary, could be armed and 
used for fighting. In this way a powerful navy was built up. 
Fishing, too, was encouraged. People were forced by law to 
eat fish on Friday a so that the fishers should be set on work." 
Shippers also were aided in every possible way ; English ships 
alone should be used in foreign trade, both going and coming. 
Piers were built, harbors repaired, and channels marked out 
with buoys. 

371. Early Efforts in the New World. — Often the merchant 
ships became privateers. They were light and swift in compari- 
son with the heavy Spanish galleons built to carry gold. The 
early story of English expansion in the New World is filled 
with the attacks of the " sea dogs " of this period upon the huge 
Catholic power of Spain. They were buccaneers, it is true, but 
they believed that in making their attacks they were doing a 
service to the cause of Protestantism. 

" To break through the Catholic monopoly of the New World, 
to kill Spaniards, to sell negroes, to sack goldships, were in 



War with Spain 



335 



these men's minds a seemly work." * The name of Francis 
Drake became the terror of the Spanish Indies. He loaded his 
bark with the gold dust and silver ingots, with the pearls, 
emeralds, and diamonds taken from captured Spanish galleons. 
For his romantic daring as well as for his spoils, Queen Elizabeth 
knighted the adventurer. 

372. Destruction of the Spanish Armada (1588). — There 
were other causes to irritate Spain. English vessels were 
engaging in a smuggling trade with Spanish colonies. Then, 




The Battle With the Armada 
From a tapestry in the House of Lords. 

too, Elizabeth had lent aid to the Protestants of Holland in 
their revolt against Spain. Philip II felt accordingly that the 
conquest of England was necessary for the security of his domin- 
ion across the seas. His mighty Armada of a hundred and 
fifty vessels, " the strongest combination that was ever gathered 
in Christendom " down to that time, set sail for England. 
Roused by the danger so near at hand, men of all faiths rose to 
defend their country against the hated Spaniard. The English 
fleet met the " invincible " Armada off Plymouth. " Small as 
the English ships were, they were in perfect trim ; they sailed 

1 Green, Short History of England, 415. 



33& 



Queen Elizabeth 



two feet for the Spaniards one, they were manned by 9,000 hardy 
seamen, and their admiral was backed by a crowd of captains 
who had won fame in the Spanish seas. With him was Hawkins, 
who had been the first to break through the charmed circle of 
the Indies ; Frobisher, the hero of the Northwest passage, and 
above all Drake, who held command of the privateers." x 
Philip was utterly defeated. Some of his ships the English 
scuttled, others were burned. Fearing the flames might spread 




Raleigh's House at Youghal 

Described as a 'perfect Elizabethan gabled house.' Sir Walter was chief magis- 
trate of Youghal in 1588-89, and here according to tradition he raised the first 
potatoes ever grown in Ireland. From a photograph. 

to the rest of the fleet, the Spanish commanders thought flight 
their only safety. A storm overtook them, however, and most 
of the remaining galleons were wrecked. 

For Spain the defeat of the Armada meant a serious loss of 
prestige. It marked the end of her monopoly in the East and 
West. It gave Holland her freedom (§336) and assured her 
merchants a share in the lucrative trade with the Spice Islands. 
It embarked England, too, on a policy which was to make her 
the greatest colonial and commercial, power of modern times. 

373. The People and their Sovereign. — There was little 
democracy in the England of Elizabeth ; the people had little 

1 Green, Short History of England, 419. 



Studies 337 

share in the government. Although the Queen's power was 
checked by parliament, she was so able and so popular that she 
usually had her own way. Far from being directed by the 
people, the state sought to direct individual enterprise in agri- 
culture, commerce, and industry. At the same time Elizabeth 
aimed to keep in touch with the wishes of her subjects ; and in 
return the people were loyal to their sovereign. England had 
become a great and prosperous nation ; and the reign of Eliza- 
beth was the most successful thus far in its history. This 
success was due to the character of the nation, to the fortunate 
circumstances in which it was at that time placed, and not 
least to the Queen, whose first object was to understand her 
people and to take advantage of every circumstance for adding 
to their prosperity and their greatness. 

Topics for Reading 

I. Henry VIII. — Robinson, Readings, II. 137-46; Hayes, Political 
and Social History of Modem Europe,!. 148-54; Lindsay, History of 
the Reformation, II. 315-67; Traill, Social England, III. ch. ix; Pollard, 
Factors in Modern History, ch. iv; Cambridge Modern History, II. 
ch. xiii. 

II. Queen Elizabeth. — Gardiner, History of England, 428-80; 
Lee, Source Book of English History, chs. xviii, xix ; Green, Short 
History of the English People, 369-420. 

III. Religious Questions under Elizabeth. — Lindsay, II. 385- 
420; Stone, Reformation and Renaissance, chs. x, xi. 

IV. Social Conditions under Elizabeth. — Innes, England's Indus- 
trial Development, ch. xii; Warner, Landmarks of English Industrial 
History, ch. x (social legislation) ; Traill, Social England, III. chs. xi, 
xii; Stephenson, The Elizabethan People, see Contents. 

Review 

1. Under what circumstances did England become free from the 
pope? Trace the steps in the process. 2. Give an account of the 
destruction of the monasteries. What was done with the spoil? 3. 
How far did the English church depart from Catholicism? Who were 
the Puritans? 4. Describe the character of Queen Elizateth; of her 
subjects. 5. What industrial regulations did she introduce, and with 
what results? 6. What conditions gave rise to the Statute of Laborers? 
What were its provisions? its effects? 7. What were the provisions 
of the Poor Laws? What conditions were they to remedy? 8. De- 



338 Queen Elizabeth 

scribe the evil plight in which Elizabeth found the currency. How 
did she reform this evil? 9. In what directions was progress being 
made? What was her international policy? her naval policy? 10. 
Describe the enterprise of her people in the New World. 11. Give 
an account of the destruction of the Armada. 12. What were the 
relations between Elizabeth and her subjects? For what is her reign 
famous? 

Additional Studies 

1. What progress had the Protestant revolt made in continental 
Europe before Henry VIII's break with Rome (ch. xx) ? 2. What 
connection has this revolt with nationalism? 3. What progress had 
been made thus far in nationalism in Germany, France, Spain, and 
England (see earlier chs.) ? 4. In England what influences, in addi- 
tion to Henry's personal wishes, were at work to bring about religious 
changes? 5. What was new in the occupations and in the social and 
economic condition of the English? 6. Were English manners less 
refined than those of France? Give reasons for your answer.' 7. 
What are the advantages and the disadvantages of governmental 
regulation? 8. Compare the condition of laborers under Elizabeth 
with their condition during the Hundred Years' War ; with their condi- 
tion to-day. 9. Compare the English currency before Elizabeth with 
that of the late Roman empire (earlier ch.). 10. What occupations 
were Englishmen finding outside their own country? 11. What was 
there in the situation of England that aided or encouraged commerce 
and colonization? Compare Phoenicia, Greece, and Venice. 12. 
What effect had the destruction of the Armada? 13. In what respect 
was the reign of Elizabeth an epoch (turning point) in English history? 
14. Write an essay on one of the Reading Topics. 15. Write a syllabus 
of this chapter like that on p. 231. 



CHAPTER XXIII 

ENGLAND IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 

I. The Struggle for Parliamentary Government 

374. Kings by Divine Right. — We have seen how Elizabeth, 
through sheer force of personality and popularity with an 
influential middle class, gradually excluded parliament from a 
share in the government. It was only natural that her succes- 
sors * should continue this policy. They were not content, 
however, with possessing unlimited power, but philosophized 
and theorized about it. They rejected the tradition that there 
was a contract between the king and his subjects. In their 
opinion it was good policy for the king to follow the law as an 
example to his subjects, but he was not compelled to do so. In 
fact, as they asserted, the monarchy was ordained by God for the 
government of men. It was therefore sacred, and to resist the 
king was not merely a crime but a sacrilege. 

Various causes served to arouse opposition. In the first 
place the Stuarts were a foreign dynasty, for in those days the 
Scotch were distrusted as heartily as the French. They lacked, 
too, the personal charm and ability of Elizabeth. James was 
weak and vacillating, while the defects of Charles were even 
more pronounced. His subjects berated his lack of decision, his 
meanness and ingratitude even toward his friends, and his hope- 
less obstinacy and untruthfulness. 

375. Opposition by the Puritans and Parliament. — The 
opposition was largely centred in the Puritans — a group rap- 
idly increasing in numbers and importance. Simple in speech, 
unaffected in dress, and austere in their keeping of Sunday, the 

1 James I (1603-1625), formerly king of Scotland, and his son Charles I (1625- 
1640). 

339 



34Q 



King and Parliament 



Puritans were " grieved to see so sinful a man sit on the throne 
of England, and so wasteful a man squander their money." 1 
They chafed under the pro-Catholic activities of the monarch, 
and under the restrictions placed upon their worship. The most 
influential of the Puritans, too, were of the middle class ; mer- 
chants, manufacturers, and traders. Their prosperity depended 
to a large extent upon the expansion of England. The king's 
lack of interest in commerce and coloniza- 
tion therefore touched the pocket-book of 
the Puritans. 

Irritated on every hand, the Puritans 
looked to parliament, in which they com- 
posed a majority, to defend their interests 
against the despotism. In this temper 
parliament refused to grant Charles I the 
money he wished. Undaunted, he tried 
to raise funds by compelling his subjects 
to lend him money which he never in- 
tended to repay. Those who refused were 
imprisoned. This abuse and others of like 
nature led parliament to draw up a 
Petition of Right (1628), ~ a document 
which clearly defined the rights of every 
individual. It forbade imprisonment 
without due cause, arbitrary punishment, 
and the exercise of martial law in time of 

About 1700. FromTem- Deace 
pest, ' Cryes of London.' ir ' 

376. The Civil War (beginning 1642). 
— Charles granted this petition, but, as may be imagined, 
he had no intention of putting it into effect. The conflict 
between him and parliament therefore grew continually 
more bitter. In fact it soon became evident that agreement 
was impossible, and that the matter had to be settled by 
the sword. The stubbornness of both parties plunged the 
country into civil war (1 642-1 646). Charles found many 
supporters, for there were many to whom loyalty was almost 

1 Hayes, Political and Social History, I, 270, referring to James I. 




A Nonconformist Min 
ister 



Civil War 34 x 

a religion. The Cavaliers, as his partisans were called, were 
mostly Episcopalians — members of the English church — and 
Catholics. The majority were drawn from the higher ranks 
of life such as the nobles, the clergy, and the well-to-do country 
gentlemen. On the other hand the parliamentary party was 
strongly Puritan ; in their numbers were Presbyterians, Baptists, 
and Congregationalists, many of whom were merchants and 
manufacturers from the towns. Their fashion of cutting the 
hair short gave the name of Roundheads to their party. The 
great mass of artisans and yeomen, however, were indifferent, 
and took little part in the struggle. 

377. Cromwell. — At first the two sides were almost evenly 
matched. Then a Puritan gentleman of fiery eloquence and 
energy, Oliver Cromwell, organized a brigade known as the 
Ironsides. They were God-fearing men who fought with a fierce 
earnestness and a firm conviction that their enemies were the 
enemies of God. They went into battle praying and singing 
psalms. Nothing could withstand their determined attacks. 
In every battle they routed the royal troops. Charles was cap- 
tured, tried, and beheaded. England, heretofore a monarchy, 
now called herself a Commonwealth (1649-1653) with the reins 
of government in the hands of Cromwell and a parliament. In 
spite of its vaunted piety, this body proved to be corrupt, in- 
competent, and impossible to cooperate with. Cromwell 
accordingly dissolved his legislature and, as Lord Protector, be- 
came in fact a military dictator (1653) . The able general proved 
a masterful statesman. His enforcement of law and order, and 
his encouragement of trade and the crafts, meant domestic pros- 
perity. His foreign policy resulted in added prestige to Eng- 
land ; powerful once more, the English annihilated one of the 
fleets of Spain and snatched Jamaica from that country. Favor- 
able commercial treaties, too, were concluded with the Dutch 
and the French. 

378. The Restoration (1660). — In spite of the fact that these 
were times of great deeds, high ideals, and strong feelings, the 
majority of Englishmen were becoming restless and discon- 
tented. In the first place a strong dislike of military govern- 



342 King and Parliament 

ment was growing up. Then, too, in the Puritan regime a 
minority party was enforcing its strict discipline and narrow 
religious ideals upon the country at large. The death of Crom- 
well offered the nation an opportunity to be rid of religious 
zealots. These considerations led them to welcome the return 
of a Stuart to the throne. 1 

The old trouble between king and parliament broke out anew, 
however, and continued without interruption for almost thirty 
years. Finally it became evident that no satisfactory adjust- 
ment could be obtained. To avoid the possibility of another 
long struggle, therefore, parliament invited William of Orange 
(Holland) 2 to occupy the throne on condition that he give heed 
to the people's representatives. William was worthy of the 
confidence ; foreigner though he was, he proved to be one of 
England's greatest and ablest rulers. 

379. Parliament Gains the Upper Hand. — In order that it 
might remain secure in the possession of its newly won powers, 
parliament provided that it should be convoked at frequent 
intervals in order to make laws and to control taxation. This 
was one of the measures of a Bill of Rights, which declared 
further that the king had no power to set aside the laws, to levy 
taxes, or to keep a standing army without the permission of 
parliament. All subjects of the realm were granted the right to 
petition the king. It was provided, too, that neither bail nor 
fines nor punishment should be excessive. This document se- 
cured to parliament the supremacy in the state and to the 
citizens in theory at least the right to life, liberty, and the 
pursuit of happiness. 

The Bill of Rights forms the basis of most written constitu- 
tions, including that of the United States. Strange as it may 
seem, England has no written constitution. Its form of govern- 
ment is the result of gradual growth, through the unconscious 
adoption of new customs, and through the enactment of individ- 
ual laws. Originally the king had all powers of government ; 
then documents such as the Magna Carta (121 5; § 198), and 

1 Charles II (1660-1685), followed by James II (1685-1680). 

2 William III (1689-1703) and Mary till 1694. 



The Cabinet 343 

the Petition of Right (1628), and the Bill of Rights (1689), so 
restricted his powers as to make him subject to parliament. 

380. The Growth of Parties. — The parliamentary practice 
thus established has evolved other principles of modern govern- 
ment. During the eighteenth century it gradually came about 
that parliament was divided into those who favored and those 
who opposed certain measures. At first these parties were 
based on conflicting views of government. Those who favored 
strong powers in the hands of the king were called Tories. 
Those, on the other hand, who wished to restrict royal privilege 
and to give greater power to the individual were called Whigs. 
It came about that the members of a party voted as a unit on all 
matters. Hence one party or the other always held a majority. 

This division into parties brought about the growth of the 
cabinet system. It so happened that the king could no longer 
hold his own personal views on politics, but had to take into 
account the leaders of the party in power. In order to put 
through his policies, therefore, the king chose a Prime Minister l 
from the majority party in the House of Commons. He in 
turn chose his colleagues from the same party. 

381. Cabinet Government. — This ministry, or cabinet, 
acted as a unit in all matters of general policy. If at any time 
parliament lost confidence in the government, it could say so. 
Then the ministers resigned and the king chose another Prime 
Minister, one necessarily who had the support of the Commons. 
If there was any doubt as to which party really represented the 
wishes of the people, the king dissolved parliament, and a general 
election took place. In all its essentials the cabinet system, 
devised in William's reign, has remained unchanged to the 
present day. 

Under the new plan the king, no longer a ruler, became the 
first officer of the nation. He lost, too, his power of veto, a 
privilege which even the President of our country still possesses. 
The actual work of government was carried on by the ministry, 
appointed by the sovereign but responsible to parliament. 
Briefly England was to be governed by parliament, in which the 
1 Not officially so called till the twentieth century. 



344 Agricultural Revolution 

House of Commons held the control of finances. Although 
much had been gained, England was not as yet ruled by the 
majority of her people. The House of Commons represented 
but a minority, for only the wealthy could vote for its members. 
It was not until the nineteenth century that the progress of 
democracy was to make the English a self-governing people in 
a far better sense of the term. 

II. A Revolution in Agriculture 

Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries 

382. Improvements in Country Life. — In the seventeenth 
century agriculture became a fashionable pursuit. A writer of 
the period says : " The farming tribe is now made up of all 
classes, from a duke to an apprentice." This means that a large 
amount of capital was now being invested in land and used for 
improvements. In this way there came to be many squires, as 
the owners of large estates were called. They lived in beautiful 
manor houses such as still adorn the English landscapes. Brick 
making was rediscovered and the houses of all but the very poor 
were now made of that material or of stone. There were chim- 
neys and glass windows. These new homes, too, were comfort- 
ably furnished. Instead of the filthy flooring of rushes, there 
were carpets. In like manner pillows and cushions, no longer 
considered effeminate, found their way into every respectable 
home. The well-to-do country people, who possessed these 
luxuries, rarely left them to go to London or to travel abroad. 
They preferred their homes to all city attractions, and passed 
their lives in hunting and other sports, in managing their estates, 
in filling local offices, and in neighborly sociability. 

383. Improvements in Agriculture. — During this period a 
great revolution took place in farming. Vegetables for winter 
consumption had already come into general use. Furthermore 
the farmer was rapidly becoming acquainted with rye and with 
clover and other grasses. The artificial pastures thus produced 
enabled him to feed his animals during the winter months. 
The improvement of fodder resulted in better stock. A fatted 



Farms 345 

ox of this period weighed eight hundred pounds, whereas for- 
merly it had not averaged half that amount. In like manner the 
weight of a fleece of wool increased fourfold. Better methods 
of tillage, too, were devised. The farmer learned how to em- 
ploy scientifically such fertilizers as manure, clay, chalk, and 
lime. Then, too, he contrived a system of crop rotation. His 
bitter experience had shown him that if grain alone were grown, 
his fields had to lie idle every third year. He discovered, how- 
ever, that if grain is grown the first year, turnips the second, and 
clover the third, the soil need net remain fallow at all. 

384. Separate Fields. — Scientific farming, however, could 
not exist in open fields (§ 216). The farmer found it impossible 
to breed a better class of animals unless he separated them 




A Rural Scene 

Showing arable fields, a herdsman and his flock a hunting party, mounted travellers 
speeding along the road, and in the background trees and houses. From a contem- 
porary engraving. 

from the inferior stock of his neighbors. He discovered, too, 
that if his land continued to be divided into small strips, he 
would have to follow the old routine, no matter how absurd it 
seemed to him. He had continual quarrels over boundaries. 
He lost valuable time, too, in travelling from one piece of land to 
another ; but the greatest motive to the revolution was his desire 
to do as he liked with his own land. Before the end of the cen- 
tury therefore England became a country of fields separated 
from each other by a ditch, hedge, or fence. 

385. Large and Small Farms. — It was the up-to-date farmer 
with plenty of money who profited by this arrangement. The 
system accordingly brought about the decay of the small farmer 
or yeoman. Little farms no longer paid under the old system 
of agriculture, and the new involved an outlay which the farmer 



346 Social Life 

of scant means could not afford. Dispossessed and in dire 
poverty, families of this class were often forced to pack up be- 
longings and tramp to town. We need not dwell on how they 
trudged the rutted and muddy roads, often begging their way. 
In a later chapter (§ 530 ff) we shall see how these outcasts fur- 
nished cheap labor for the new industries which were springing 
up. 

III. Social Lite and Customs 

386. Social Customs ; the Trading Class. — During this pe- 
riod the average artisan and farmer continued to sleep, dress, and 
eat as he had for the last three centuries. There was little 
change even in court life. It remained frivolous, extravagant, 
and dissipated. Excessive drinking and gambling tended to 
rob it of all attraction. The period is chiefly noted, however, 
for the growth of the trading class. Business men were wealthy 
and influential ; in fact many of them received from the king 
the title of baronet, which was the lowest grade of nobility. 
They were rapidly becoming the backbone of English society. 
We gain an intimate knowledge of their lives and habits through 
the diary of Samuel Pepys, who was secretary to the Admiralty. 

387. Daily Life. — It was the custom for even the most 
fashionable to rise early. Merchants went to work as early as 
six a.m. Breakfast was usually light and consisted of a draught 
of ale with bread, butter, and radishes. The important meal 
was dinner, about one o'clock. On one occasion Mr. Pepys 
served a " really grand dinner " to several of his friends. " Fri- 
casse of rabbits and chickens, a leg of mutton boiled, three carps 
in a dish, a great dish of a side of lamb, a dish of roast pigeons, 
a lamprey pie (a most rare pie), a dish of anchovies, good wine 
of several sorts, and all things noble and to my great content." 

There was in addition an endless variety of drinks. Water 
was scarcely ever drunk; even the youngest children were 
accustomed to beer. Tea was slow in making its way into 
polite society. It was still considered a " filthy practice, a base, 
unworthy Indian custom, which no Christian family should 
admit." This was,, too, an age of hospitality. After dinner it 



Manners and Customs 



347 



was the custom of guests to remain to play cards and other 
games, to smoke, and to tell stories, until seven or eight o'clock 
in the evening. 

Foreigners, however, observed a lack of polite manners among 
Englishmen. At table guests were seated on chairs without 
backs, and usually wore their hats. They had the bad habit, 
too, of spitting. Furthermore " on the English table there are 
no forks. A beaker is set before 
each person, and at the end of 
the meal each dips the end of his 
napkin therein, and with this he 
cleans his teeth and washes his 
hands." 

388. Coffee-houses. — After 
the early dinner it was a com- 
mon custom for the men to ad- 
journ to the coffee-house. Here 
they drank chocolate or coffee 
together and exchanged gossip. 
" The host of the coffee-house 
was the recipient of all the town 
gossip. Each guest on entering 
asks the threadbare question, 
' What news have you, Master? ' 
and the host tells him what he 
has heard ' the barber to the 
tailor of a great courtier's man 
say.' " x In time coffee-houses 
became the veritable hotbeds of 
political agitation, for here the 
great literary and political celebrities met and discussed the 
questions of the day. The guests took it for granted that 
everyone was to express his opinions freely. It was into the 
coffee-house, too, that newspapers, which were still too expen- 
sive for individuals to buy, first made their way. They 
were eagerly read, although it was felt that they made 

1 Traill, Social England, IV. 660. 




A Coffee-house 

Showing the furniture and fashions 
of the time. From a contemporary 
jest-book (1688). 



348 



Social Life 



the public " too familiar with the actions and counsels of 
their superiors." 

389. Puritan and Cavalier Contrasted. — Social customs of 
this century present an interesting contrast. Under the Puritan 
regime life was undoubtedly abnormal. It was believed that 
society should be held together by a common moral discipline. 
Drinking, gambling, and swearing were 
prohibited. Any person " betting at 
cards, dice, tables, tennis, bowls, 
shovelboard, or any other game," was 
compelled to forfeit twice his winnings. 
Horse races, too, were suppressed. In 
like manner dramatic performances 
were not allowed to take place ; in fact 
actors were whipped as common rogues. 
On Sunday games and sports as well as 
the selling of wares were forbidden. A 
law stated that anyone found idly stand- 
ing or walking in the street in sermon 
time, or playing at any game upon the 
Sabbath or fast day should pay half a 
crown or suffer imprisonment. Puri- 
tans could scarcely endure the sight of 
a gentleman. Their greeting to a well- 
dressed man was " French dog." Men 
of Puritan faith cropped their hair 
short, wore a dark cloak, a plain linen 
collar, and a high steeple-crowned hat. 

On the other hand the Cavaliers presented a picturesque 
appearance with their long flowing hair and their bright clothes. 
In this period were worn the garments which have become the 
modern coat and vest. The vest was girded with a sash, and the 
coat was ornamented with a row of gold buttons and with gold 
edging along the seams. Tight knee-breeches were the custom. 
The cravat was of lace ; and it was stylish for a man to wear a 
muff suspended round the neck by a ribbon. When Pepys' wife 
bought a new muff, her husband used her old one. 




Newswoman 

Selling the London Gazette. 
From Tempest, 'Cryes of 
London.' 



Women 349 

390. Women's Occupations and Social Position. — The ladies 
of this period gave a large part of their time to household duties. 
Even the wealthiest preserved the garden fruit and did their 
own sewing and mending. It was almost impossible for them 
to enter a business or a professional career ; nor could they 
obtain an education at the universities. In spite of these dis- 
advantages there were many women of refinement and culture. 
They used their artistic skill in tapestry and embroidery. 
Others were excellent singers or could play the stringed instru- 
ments of that age. Girls were usually married while still in 
their " teens." Ordinarily they had little part in the choice of 
a husband, for it was the business of a good father to find a young 
man who would be a suitable mate for his daughter. As may be 
supposed, many of these marriages resulted unhappily ; and 
there were frequent runaway matches. 

Countrywomen, too, were accustomed to hard work. They 
were of great assistance to the men in making cloth, at a time 
when that industry was carried on at home. In harvest time 
the mothers put their babies to play together in the busy field, 
while they helped gather in the crop. At other times they did 
the lighter routine tasks of farmwork. As a rule Englishmen 
respected their women and did not wish them to become mere 
beasts of burden, as were many on the Continent. The wife 
and daughters were responsible for the brewing of the beer and 
the salting of the beef, as well as for the daily cooking. In 
the absence of the country doctor, too, they practised the, art of 
healing, partly by herbs, partly by quaint charms. 

391. Women's Dress. — The ladies of the court with their 
masks, their excessive rouge, and their powdered hair, looked 
very much alike. They appeared in magnificent costumes. A 
courtier tells us of an elegant dame who wore " some fine dia- 
monds on her fingers, repeatedly taking off no fewer than t^ree 
gloves, which were worn one over the other. Her bodice was of 
yellow satin, richly embroidered, her petticoat of gold tissue 
with stripes, her robe of red velvet, lined with yellow muslin, 
with broad stripes of pure gold. She wore an apron of point 
lace of various patterns ; her head-tire was highly perfumed, and 



35° 



Social Life 



the collar of white satin beneath the delicately wrought ruff, 

struck me as extremely pretty." * 

On the other hand the women of lower rank dressed simply. 
Little tailoring was needed to make 
garments of the cheap, coarse material. 
As a rule they " were wearing plain- 
pointed bodices laced in front; wide 
tippets or folded kerchiefs ; plain pet- 
ticoats, sometimes with panniers; 
wide, short sleeves, and deep lawn or 
lace cuffs and collars. . . . Outdoors 
women wore peaked beaver hats, 
or a black hood and coverchief tied 
under the chin." 2 
392. Amuse- 
ments. — Under 
the restored king- 
ship (§ 378) the 
theatre became 
once more the most 
popular form of 
amusement. The 
stage and the act- 
ing were immeas- 
urably better than 

ever before, and the audience, formerly 

rude, was orderly and civil. There were' 

few comforts, and ladies and gentlemen 

continued to sit on benches without backs. 

The central dome, too, was uncovered, and 

when a hailstorm came on, the theatre was 

emptied. 

Everyone, rich or poor, sought the open 

air on holidays and Sundays. " Your 

glass coach will to Hyde Park for air; the suburb fools trot 

to Tottenham ; your sprucer sorts of citizens gallop to Epsom ; 

1 Traill, IV. 169. 2 Ibid. 320. 




A Lady of the Court 

Under the Stuarts. The 
costume of her class is de- 
scribed in the text. From 
Traill, 'Social England.' 




A Woman of the 
Middle Class 



Under the 
From Traill, 
England.' 



Stuarts. 
' Social 



The Drama 



35i 



\ 



your mechanic gross fellows, showing much conjugal affection, 
strut before their wives, each with a child in his arms, to 
Islington." 

Tennis and pell mell were favorite sports of the gentry. In 
the latter game the object was to hit a ball through hoops 
placed at the ends of a long alley. Gentlemen often went to 
the arena, too, to witness cock-fighting as well as fencing and 
boxing. A spectator at the arena gives us a graphic description 
of the dangerous sport of sword fighting. " For my part I 
think there is an inhumanity in permitting men to kill each other 
for diversion. I should 

have had more pleasure in ^ ^ , ) |§^~ ) 

seeing the battle of the 
bears and dogs, which was 
fought the following day in 
the same place." 



IV. Literature and 
Science 

393. Literature. — The 

literature of the period 
reflects the contrasting 
features of social life des- 
cribed above. In William 
Shakespeare (15 64-1 6 16) 
the age brought forth the 
greatest literary genius of 
modern time — perhaps of 
all time. While still a 
young man poverty at 
home drove him to London 
and the stage. Here he 
was known as Jack-of -all- 
trades, for in a short time he became part owner of a theatre as 
we]l as actor and playwright. In Love's 'Labor's Lost this lad 
from the country paints a brilliant picture of the court life of the 




A Stage 

In the time of Shakespeare. The scene 
represents the front of a three-storied house. 
Peculiar are the form of the stage, the two 
doors on the ground floor, and the balcony in 
the second story. From Albright, 'Shake- 
sperian Stage.' 



352 



Literature and Science 



time with its witty sayings, its unreality, and extravagance. His 
other comedies are filled with adventures and practical jokes, 
with entertaining sketches of manners and customs. Perhaps 
Shakespeare has endeared himself most of all to his own coun- 
trymen through such historical plays as Richard III and Henry 
V. They reflect vividly English national character ; the love 
of hard fighting, the blind faith in the triumph of goodness over 
evil, pity for the fallen, as well as prejudice and unfairness to 
foreigners. By playlovers of all time and countries, however, he 
is most admired for his powerful tragedies, Hamlet and Macbeth. 

They show not only struggles 
between great characters, but the 
conflict of emotions and passions 
in the soul itself. 

John Milton (i 608-1 6 74) was 
the product of a later age. 
Though a Puritan, he was not 
narrow in belief. His early 
poems, it is true, plead against 
the coarse festivities and drinking 
bouts of the time, but they 
encourage simple pleasures. In 
blindness and old age Milton 
composed Paradise Lost. It is an 
epic of a lost cause, for Puritan- 
ism had finally been defeated. 
It depicts the eternal struggle between the Archangel, who is the 
Spirit of Good, and Satan, the Spirit of Evil. In stately meas- 
ure it narrates the disobedience of man and the victory of Satan ; 
it tells how " the world has fallen on evil days and evil tongues, 
with darkness and with danger compassed round." Many 
critics consider it the most splendid example of English 
poetry. 

In like manner John Bunyan (1628-1668), another Puritan, 
has given to the world its most celebrated allegory. His Pil- 
grim's Progress describes the journey of a Christian from the 
City of Destruction to the Heavenly City. It may be compared 




John Milton 
From a painting. 



Bacon and Newton 



353 



with the Bible in its clear yet forceful style and in its quaint 
phrases. Indeed, because it describes one's own thoughts and 
life so well, it has become one of the best-loved books in English 
literature. 

394. Science. — Other brilliant men of this period turned 
their attention to science. Francis Bacon (1 561-1626) showed 
the futility of taking things for granted, of blindly accepting 
what others have told or written. 
To gain new knowledge a man 
must observe the facts for him- 
self, must make countless inquiries 
and conduct many experiments. 
Animated by this spirit, Isaac 
Newton (1646-1727) made a 
discovery of far-reaching impor- 
tance. One day he noticed an 
apple falling to the ground. 
This phenomenon, he reasoned, 
was caused by an invisible force, 
which he called gravitation, a force 
that must be at work through- 
out the universe. Just as the 
apple was pulled toward the earth, 
he argued, so must the earth be 
pulled toward the sun. It is 
restrained from falling upon the 
sun, however, by the tendency 
of a body to move in a straight 
line. By reducing his discovery 
to a formula Newton made it possible to determine the orbits 
of the earth and planets and with great accuracy to foretell 
eclipses and the return of comets. Briefly it placed astronomy 
and physics on an exact mathematical basis. 

The pursuit of science was made popular by the institution of 
a Royal Society (1662). Scientists became courtiers, and under 
this stimulus discoveries followed in rapid succession. Halley 
investigated tides and planets. Hooke made the microscope 




The Returning Christian 

After wandering from the narrow 
way on the advice of Mr. Worldly 
Wisdom, he has returned, and is 
knocking at the gate. From a Dutch 
edition of 'Pilgrim's Progress.' 



354 



Literature and Science 




A Schoolroom 

Children began their studies as early as two 
years of age, and were pushed rapidly in 
French, Latin, arithmetic, geography, and 
astronomy. Many wealthy parents sent their 
children to school, whereas a few preferred 
private instruction. From Traill, 'Social 
England.' 



available for research. 
By utilizing the air pump 
Boyle reduced experimen- 
tal chemistry to a science. 
In a similar way many 
other fields of study, as 
physiology, mineralogy, 
botany, and zoology, took 
the character of sciences. 
In fact it was a period 
unsurpassed in intellec- 
tual initiative and energy 
—the parent, so to speak, 
of the present great age 
of discovery and inven- 
tion. 



Topics for Reading 

For a general survey read Hayes, Political and Social History of 
Modem Europe, I. ch. viii. 

I. Cromwell and the Commonwealth. — Gardiner, History of 
England, 539-74; Lee, Source Book of English History, ch. xxii ; Innes, 
History of England, II. 354-401 ; Cross, History of England and of 
Greater Britain, chs. xxix-xxxi; Green, Short History of the English 
People, 547-604. 

II. Social Conditions and Customs. — Cross, ch. xxxv ; Traill, 
Social England, IV, see Contents. 

III. Milton. — Saintsbury, Short History of English Literature, 
391 ff. ; Grierson, First Half of the Seventeenth Century, (" Periods of 
European Literature "), 180 ff. ; Cambridge Modern History, V. ch. vi. 



Review 

1. Why did despotic government work well under Elizabeth? 
Who were her immediate successors (p. 339, n. 1)? What view did 
they take of their power? 2. What led to the Petition of Right? 
What did this document contain? 3. What caused the civil war? 
Who formed the conflicting forces? 4. Give an account of Cromwell. 
Describe the composition and character of his army. What was the 
outcome of the war? What form of government did he establish? 
5. Why and in what way did the English return to kingship? 6. What 



Studies 355 

was the Bill of Rights? In what way did parliament gain control of 
the government? 7. Describe the formation of parties. Describe the 
office of prime minister. 8. What is the cabinet? What is cabinet 
(or ministerial) government? 9. How does the government change 
from one party to the other? 10. What developments were taking 
place in country life? 11. What improvements were introduced in 
agriculture? 12. What were separate fields and why were they intro- 
duced? 13. What social class was rising to prominence? 14. De- 
scribe the daily life of the period. 15. Give an account of the coffee- 
houses. 16. Contrast Puritan and Cavalier. 17. Describe the occu- 
pations of women. 18. Describe their dress. 19. Give an ac- 
count of the recreations of this period. 20. What did Shakespeare 
write, and for what are his works severally noted? 21. Who were 
Milton and Bunyan? What did they respectively write? 22. Who 
was the greatest scientist of the age? What progress was made in 
science ? 

Additional Studies 

1. Why does despotism work well in some instances, and in others 
not (chs. xxii, xxv) ? 2. Who were the Calvinists and who the Puri- 
tans? 3. What earlier document in English history may be compared 
with the Petition of Right, and in what respect? 4. Explain the 
cause of the civil war. 5. Who supported the king and who opposed 
him? Give reasons for this alignment. 6. Why did men with reli- 
gious principles make better soldiers than others? 7. Give reasons 
why England did not remain a commonwealth. 8. What is the im- 
portance of the Bill of Rights ? Did it give equal rights to all English- 
men? 9. Compare cabinet government with that of the United 
States. Which seems the more democratic? 10. Can you give any 
reasons why country life was now growing more prosperous (ch. xxii) ? 

11. Explain the open-field system and the change to separate fields. 

12. What were the advantages of the new system? 13. Compare the 
meals of the period with those of our own time. 14. Were any for- 
eigners more refined and polite than English people? If so, why? 
15. By what means did news circulate? 16. Why did the Puritans 
call the Cavaliers "French dogs"? 17. In what respect does this 
period form an epoch in English history ? r8. Write a syllabus of this 
chapter like that on p. 231. 



CHAPTER XXIV 

THE STRUGGLE FOR WORLD EMPIRE 
i 688-1815 

I. England in Conflict with Holland ; Financial Organi- 
zation 

395. Dutch Trade with the East. — When the United Nether- 
lands achieved their independence of Spain (§ 305), they were 
forced to abandon their share in the carrying trade from Lis- 
bon to other European ports. Enterprising Dutch merchants 
therefore turned to the East Indies with the intention of secur- 
ing for themselves the valuable spice trade. Everywhere their 
reputation for honest dealings won them many friends among 
the natives, while efficient business methods brought large 
profits. From their first trading post in Java (1603) they rap- 
idly extended their control over the Spice and Banda Islands. 
On every hand the Spanish and Portuguese had to give way, 
and before the middle of the century, their commerce with the 
East Indies almost ceased. Meanwhile the Dutch secured for 
themselves the monopoly of trade with Borneo, Sumatra, and 
the neighboring islands, and even with Japan. 

396. Rivalry between Holland and England. — England, 
wrapped up in internal affairs, made several feeble attempts to 
gain a foothold in the East Indies, with little or no success. 
In fact, while her energies were absorbed in civil war, Holland 
had threatened to capture the entire carrying trade of the 
world. Cromwell attempted to prevent this disaster by the 
Navigation Acts (beginning in 1651), which forbade the carry- 
ing of goods to and from England except in ships built and 
owned in England or her colonies and manned with English or 

356 



Colonizing Companies 357 

colonial crews. Holland felt that such laws made her position 
insecure. War was inevitable. For a quarter of a century 
(1651-1674) there were waged furious struggles in the Channel 
for trade and dominion in the East. England finally blockaded 
the ports of her rival, and thus shut off all trade, the very life 
of the little nation. In fact the resources of Holland were not 
sufficient to withstand the power of her larger rival. An ami- 
cable settlement was arranged whereby the Dutch confined 
their trade to the islands, including Japan and Ceylon. The 
English, on the other hand, were to restrict their efforts to the 
coast of India. There they founded little settlements which 
afterward became the chief cities in India — Mad-ras', Bom- 
bay', and Cal-cut'ta. 

397. The Chartered Companies. — This work of expansion 
was carried on, not by private traders, but by chartered com- 
panies. In England, for example, each company received a 
charter from the king to operate in a given locality. They 
were permitted to take possession of the territory in which they 
traded and rigorously to exclude all interlopers. Politically 
they were invested with the power of ruling over the natives 
in the name of England ; commercially they were expected to 
extract the maximum of income with the minimum of expendi- 
ture. It was their duty not only to conduct a profitable com- 
merce but to injure political rivals. They served to increase 
shipping facilities and to supply the state with an unofficial 
navy. Similarly they were to furnish material in ships, men, 
and commodities for use in the regular navy. By enlarging the 
number and areas of the colonies they increased the prestige of 
the mother country. At the same time they were to maintain 
a favorable balance of trade and to add to the public revenue 
through the payment of import and export duties. They were 
under direct control of the government, for they owed their 
privileges, financial support in crises, and even their very exist- 
ence to the Crown. The success and glory accrued to Eng- 
land; in case of disgrace or failure the blame was placed on 
the company. 

The fortunes of perhaps thirty such companies fade into in- 



358 England against Holland 

significance when compared with the East India Company, 
founded late in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. It was destined 
to build up a vast empire for Britain in India, and for two cen- 
turies and a half to enjoy in its own right an almost imperial 
power. 

398. Origin of the Bank of England. — A further impetus to 
world trade was the rise of a national banking system. During 
the seventeenth century, private bankers became common in 
England. Most of them were goldsmiths. As they had valu- 
able property of their own to guard, people naturally were in- 
clined to leave money in their keeping. In this way the gold- 
smiths obtained a large number of deposits which they were 
willing to lend at interest. 

In 1694 King William III (§ 378) found his position on the 
throne insecure, unless he could obtain money to pay his sol- 
diers. At that time the government usually had to pay a 
high rate of interest on loans, for its credit was poor. Ac- 
cording to custom William appealed to the London goldsmiths 
to lend him 1,200,000 pounds at eight per cent interest. In re- 
turn for this favor he permitted the lenders to form a corpora- 
tion called the " Bank of England." It alone was to have the 
privilege of issuing notes in its own name. 

399. Relation of the Bank to the Government. — In this 
way the Bank of England became a national concern. For that 
reason it has maintained a close relation with the government ; 
it has always taken care of the state funds not in actual use, 
and in return has lent money to the government when in need 
of funds. This institution brought about a great change in 
finance. Hitherto the government had been in the habit of 
paying by taxation expenses as they arose. Now it became 
easy to borrow money for great undertakings. During the trade 
wars of the eighteenth century England had to pay for battle- 
ships and for the equipment and support of her troops. In this 
period it began to ask loans of citizens who had surplus funds. 
Then it was that the national debts came to serve the wealthy 
as a means of investment. The system involves some disad- 
vantages; for governments have often borrowed money for 



Finance 359 

foolish and wasteful projects. It has become so easy to borrow 
that every nation of to-day is rolling up a tremendous debt 
which future generations will eventually have to pay. 

400. Advantages of Credit. — Through credit, however, 
" merchants, manufacturers, and the government alike were 
able to extend their operations; the manufacturers by taking 
advantage of the new inventions and working on a scale hitherto 
unknown, the merchants and ship-owners by spreading British- 
made goods over the world, and the government by thwarting 
French colonial ambition, by colonizing America, by establish- 
ing British rule in India, and by building up a naval power 
which destroyed its competitors," l — so that Britain was finally 
without a rival. 

Banks, too, have encouraged thrif tiness in individuals. It is 
only natural for a person to trust a bank in which his govern- 
ment places confidence. " As safe as the bank of England " 
has become a proverb, for its credit has never been shaken. 
Other banks have followed its lead and have become immensely 
popular. A bank offers security to both the large and the 
small investor. Every dollar invested is itself earning money ; 
it is always available, too, in time of need. 

II. England Acquires the Leadership in India 

1689-1784 

401. Her Conflict with France (1680-1761). — The eighteenth 
century witnessed a momentous struggle between England and 
France for colonial power. War was waged simultaneously on 
the Continent, in India, in the West Indies, and in America. 
At the same time the fleets of England and France were striv- 
ing for victory because a command of the sea would leave the 
colonies of the enemy at the mercy of the winner. 

Under the patronage of Louis XIV a French East India Com- 
pany was organized (1642). It was not long in establishing a 
number of trading stations, the chief of which was Pon-di- 
cher'ry. Early in its career the Company entered upon a 

1 Warner, 243-4. 



360 



England in India 



policy of conquest. At this time India was torn by civil war 
among the native princes. This condition offered an oppor- 
tunity for Du-pleix', the French governor in India. With his 
magnetic personality he succeeded in gaining the confidence of 
many of the natives, whom he enlisted in his army. Such sol- 
diers are called " sepoys." With their help he hoped to win 
over the entire country for France. 

For a time it seemed that his personality and ability would 
bring him complete success. Fortunately for England, how- 
ever, this emergency produced a 
hero in Clive, a clerk in her Com- 
pany's service. He proceeded to 
organize an army of sepoys ; for he, 
too, appreciated the value of native 
soldiers, drilled and officered by 
Europeans. To his energy and 
skill in directing his campaigns 
belongs the credit of England's 
victory. Everywhere he was suc- 
cessful, and with the fall of Pondi- 
cherry (1761) the power of France 
in India was forever ended. 

402. Culmination and Decline 
of the Company's Power. — The 
English East India Company had 
ceased to be a mere business cor- 
poration. No longer was it content 
to trade here and there or establish a settlement at random ; 
nor would it yield to the disapproval of nabobs. It assumed 
the character of a state. Under Clive and his successors the 
work of subduing the natives went on. He required the obedi- 
ence of Indian princes. He succeeded, too, in making the name 
of England feared, a fact that was enough to discourage rebel- 
lion. " The Company itself had become a sovereign more 
formidable than its rivals, with as large a revenue, a wider 
territory, and a more effective army than any of them." x 

Warner, 254. 




Hyder Ali Khan 

Lived 1728-1782. One of the 
ablest and most formidable enemies 
of the British among the warrior 
princes of India. From a contem- 
porary drawing. 



Colonization in America 



361 



Meanwhile the Company was growing so corrupt that the 
English government felt compelled to cut down its power. An 
act of parliament (1784) subjected it to a Board of Control ap- 
pointed by the Crown. This board, together with the governor- 
general, also appointed by the king, virtually ruled India. 

III. English Colonization in America 

Beginning 1607 

403. Beginnings ; the Religious Motive. — Prior to the 

seventeenth century England's activities in the western Atlan- 
tic had been confined chiefly to privateering, and to vain searches 
for precious metals and for a northwest passage to the land of 
highly prized spices. Then 
came new motives to colo- 
nization; in fact powerful 
forces arose to induce men 
to leave native land and 
relatives for permanent 
homes in the New World. 
In the first place the early 
Stuart monarchs were mak- 
ing it decidedly uncomfor- 
table for those who rejected 
the beliefs of the Anglican 
church or the " divine 
right " of kings. To escape 
religious and political per- 
secution therefore hun- 
dreds turned to the New 
World. Inspired by this 
motive, the Pilgrim 
Fathers, a band of Puri- 
tans, settled at Plymouth, Massachusetts, in the hope of mak- 
ing their colony a bright example for the rest of mankind 
(1620). From this date similar colonies were rapidly established 
throughout New England. Maryland, however, was founded 




Poultry Seller 

On the streets of London. From Tempest, 
'Cryes of London,' 1711. 



362 



England in America 



under the patronage of Lord Baltimore, as a refuge for perse- 
cuted Catholics. Toward the close of the century Pennsyl- 
vania was opened by William Penn as a new home for an op- 
pressed sect of Puritans called Quakers. At the same time 
many Anglicans, dissatisfied with Cromwell's government, came 
to Virginia and the Carolinas. 

404. Economic Causes. — Economic motives induced many 
others to emigrate. It was a period of great distress at home, 

due mainly to the change 
from tillage to pasturage 
(§ 367 f.). The thousands 
thus deprived of a livelihood 
thronged to the towns in 
search of employment. Here 
a large majority remained 
workless, a permanent pauper 
class in slums. This condition 
led economists to believe that 
England was overpopulated 
and to recommend coloniza- 
tion as a remedy. Such 
colonies as Virginia (James- 
town, 1607) and Georgia, 
accordingly, offered to those 
who had failed at home an 
opportunity to begin life anew. 
The majority of Carolina 

settlers, on the other hand, were wealthy Englishmen who 

founded great plantations. 

405. The Thirteen Colonies. — At the close of the seven- 
teenth century the English had secured by colonization or con- 
quest a narrow strip along the Atlantic coast stretching from 
Maine to Georgia and bounded on the West by the Alleghany 
mountains. This area was occupied by the thirteen colonies 
which in later time formed the original United States of Amer- 
ica. The following table shows their geographical grouping, 
dates of settlement, and founders whether English or Dutch. 




Chimney Sweeps 

On the streets of London. From Tern 
pest, 'Cryes of London.' 



The Thirteen Colonies 
A List of the Colonies 



363 



Colonies 


Date 


Founded By 


I. 


Southern Group 

Virginia 

Maryland 

No. and So. Carolina 

Georgia 


1607 
1634 
1663 
1732 


The London Company 
Lord Baltimore 
Landed Proprietors 
General. Oglethorpe 


II. 


New York Group 
New York 


1664 


Taken from the Dutch 




New Jersey 
Delaware 


1664 
1638 


Taken from the Dutch 
Taken from the Dutch 


III. 


Pennsylvania 

New England Group 
Massachusetts 


1681 
1620 ' 




Purchased by William 
Penn 

Colonized 




New Hampshire 
Rhode Island 


1622 
1636 




by 
Puritans 




Connecticut 


1636 







406. Farming and Industry. — The chief occupation of the 
southern colonies was farming. There were many large plan- 
tations, each with its 
handsome brick man- 
sion. Ranged about 
the residence of the 
owner were the huts 
of the slaves. It was 
not considered wrong 
in those days to hold 
negroes in bondage as 
long as one treated 
them kindly. Nor 
was slavery forbidden 
in the North. It was 
more popular naturally on the southern plantations, where 
unskilled laborers raised the crops at little expense. Negroes, 
too, were accustomed to the warm climate which white men 




A Colonial Mansion 

A common type of the large country house. 
Many are still in good condition. This one is in 
Pennsylvania. From Forman, 'Stories for Boys.' 



364 England in America 

often found unhealthful. These plantations produced large 
crops of rice, cotton, tobacco, and indigo for the distant 
markets of Europe. 

In the North were many small farms. There, however, land 
was not so fertile nor was the climate favorable to agriculture, 
and men sought to make use of other natural resources. Forests 
were a great source of wealth, especially as they made possible 
the development of a ship-building industry. Often enterpris- 
ing business men of a little town united their savings and built 
their own ships. They were skilled and hardy sailors and 
dependent on no one. The crew, from captain to cabin-boy, 
were partners and shared in the profits of the voyage. Their 
schooners and square-riggers dared to plow every sea. 

Fisheries, however, were the greatest industry of New Eng- 
land. The inhabitants sold salt fish either to the southern 
plantations or to the Catholic countries of Europe. Whales, 
too, furnished for lighting purposes an oil which proved superior 
to the lard oil or the tallow dip of the day. It was a glowing 
tribute that Edmund Burke, a great Irish statesman, paid to 
the fishermen : " Neither the perseverance of Holland, nor the 
activity of France, nor the sagacity of English enterprise ever 
carried this perilous industry to the extent to which it has been 
pushed by this resolute people — a people who are still in the 
gristle, not yet hardened into the bone, of manhood." Yet not 
even Burke could imagine how great a nation these fishermen 
and peasants were to become. 

407. Towns ; Unsanitary Conditions. — Men of the North 
had already begun to manufacture on a small scale for local 
needs. From this activity there had grown up the enterprising 
towns of New York, Boston, and Philadelphia. It need hardly 
be said that they differed greatly from modern cities. Paved 
streets were few and they were poorly kept. There were no 
sanitary arrangements; garbage and ashes were dumped into 
vacant lots or even into the streets, there to breed disease. 
Sometimes the authorities permitted hogs to roam the streets 
as scavengers just as they did in the Old World (§ 347). Each 
house had its own well, whose water was often contaminated 



Towns and Cities 



365 



by cesspools and surface filth. We can easily understand there- 
fore that the death rate was appallingly high. 

Typhoid and smallpox were visitors in every household. 
Smallpox pittings were considered ornamental. There was a 
quack who advertised his ability " to minister to feminine 
beauty by limiting the number of pits as desired and locating 
them wherever on the face the patient might think becoming." 
A number of friends sometimes organized themselves into a 
smallpox party, had themselves inoculated, and went through 
the experience in one another's company. 




The Founding of a Colony 
Savannah, Georgia, 1734. From 'Album historique.' 

Medical science, still in its infancy, was full of superstition. 
Conditions in America were worse even than in France (§ 361). 
Most physicians of the time made use of charms, for they were 
not acquainted with more than perhaps a dozen drugs. It was 
easy for a young man to become a doctor. He could attend a 
few lectures in a medical college and receive a diploma ; or he 
might prefer to " ride with a doctor " for a year or so ; after 
which he became a fully equipped physician. He knew little 
anatomy, and still less chemistry and hygiene. Small wonder, 
then, that he failed to diagnose and cure diseases. 



366 England in America 

408. Education. — The American colonists were not too 
busily engaged in earning a living to neglect education. To 
them belongs the credit of establishing good schools sup- 
ported by all the citizens and open to all members of the com- 
munity. They made a great effort that " ye learning may not 
be buried in ye grave of our fathers in ye church and common- 
wealth." In the grammar school pupils could learn reading, 
writing, and the keeping of accounts. For those who wished 
to study further and who had the means, there were Harvard, 
Yale, Princeton, King's College (now Columbia), and half a 
dozen other institutions equally well known. In the South, 
however, the population was too scattered to maintain many 
public schools. Young people were usually tutored at home. 
The more wealthy were often sent to Oxford, Cambridge, or 
Paris to study. 

The duties of the New England schoolmaster were many. 
His tasks were " to serve summons, as also to conduct the ser- 
vices of the Church, and to sing on Sundays, to take charge of 
the School, dig graves, etc., ring the bell, and perform whatever 
else may be required." 1 

The writing of the time was filled with eccentric spelling. 
Everyone spelled words according to his own taste and fancy. 
It is only recently that correct spelling has become a sign of cul- 
ture. Men like Samuel Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Patrick 
Henry, however, were masters of the English language. They 
composed with a grace and a vigor that writers of to-day might 
well envy. 

409. Religion and Morals. — Religion played an important 
part in the lives of the New England colonists. In every house- 
hold prayers were held both morning and evening. Grace was 
said before each meal and thanks afterward. People were ex- 
pected besides to attend Church services. Men of Plymouth 
were wont to assemble by beat of drum, each with his musket 
or firelock, in front of the captain's door ; they had their cloaks 
on, and placing themselves three abreast, they marched in good 
order and each set his arms down near at hand. The service 

1 Hart, American History told by Contemporaries, I. 291. 



Religion and Government 367 

was often prolonged for several hours. Comfort was impossi- 
ble, for the churches were without heat, and in winter the tem- 
perature often fell below zero. Religious devotion was so 
strong as to forbid public amusement, for happiness itself was 
a sin sure to be visited with punishment in a future life. Laws 
and morals were exceedingly severe, and private life was rigor- 
ously controlled by statutes. In the South, however, religion 
played a lesser part. This condition naturally resulted in a 
lower code of public morals. In that section drunkenness and 
profanity were common. 

In time enthusiasm for Puritanism began to die down ; and 
gradually the colonists came to tolerate men of all sects. It 
was Roger Williams who likened the state to a ship on which 
the captain could not compel the passengers to come to prayers, 
but could require all to join in saving the ship and cargo. This 
idea resulted in a complete separation of church and state. 
The wisdom of this step is only now coming to be appreciated 
by Europe. 

410. Self-Government. — In these years Americans began 
to learn the lessons of self-government. It was only natural 
that in working out these problems they should follow English 
customs and tradition. As early as 1619 the settlers of Virginia 
elected their representatives to an assembly which made laws 
for them. In time each colony came to have a governor, a coun- 
cil, and an assembly, which corresponded closely to the king, 
the lords, and the commons of England. With some changes 
this system became the basis of our state and national govern- 
ment. 

The colonists were allowed even freer scope in local affairs. 
New England especially was democratic. Town meetings were 
held at frequent intervals and all members of the community 
took an equal part in the proceedings. They passed laws con- 
cerning the most petty matters. For instance, " It is voated 
and ordered that from and after ye first day of aprill next (1721) 
noo Geese shall be Lett goe upon the Common or in the high- 
ways nor in the water within this township of Providence, nor 
upon any other person's Land, except those that own the Geese 



3 68 



England in America 



... on the penalty of the forfeiture of all such geese that are 

so found." 1 

411. Town officers. — There were many officers. Among 

those chosen were the town clerk, town sergeant, two town 

councilmen, surveyors of highways, overseers for the poor, 

poundkeepers, fence-viewers, 
packers and sealers, hog consta- 
bles, and hemp-viewers. 

When the town meeting was not 
in session it was the duty of the 
executives to administer its busi- 
ness. John Adams found that 
his office brought him " a multi- 
plicity of new cares. The schools 
are one great object of my atten- 
tion. It is a thing of some diffi- 
culty to find out the best, most 
beneficial method of expending 
the school money. . . . Another 
great object is the poor ; persons 
are soliciting for the privilege of 
supplying the poor with wood, 
corn, meat, etc. ... A third 
and the greatest is the assess- 
ment; I must inquire a great 
deal before I shall know the 




A Nosegay Macaroni 



Toward the end of the colonial 
period there broke out among wealthy 
Englishmen a great rage for a foppish 
attire, which was imitated in America. 
Because this tone of style came ulti- 
mately from Italy, the fop was called polls and estates, real and per- 

a macaroni. From Traill, 'Social SQn ^ Q f aU the inhabitants." 2 

This system was the forerunner 
of city government of the present time. 

412. Social Life. — While the government was democratic, 
the basis of social life was aristocratic. Only one fourteenth 
of the male inhabitants possessed the title of gentleman. This 
distinction was commonly won by office-holding. Great atten- 
tion was paid to social rank in assigning seats in meeting- 

1 Hart, American History told by Contemporaries, II. 215. 

2 Ibid. 223. 



Society 



369 



houses and places at table or in processions, as well as in 
preparing lists in college commencement programs. 

It must not be imagined that colonial life was altogether 
humdrum and hard work. With 
the increase of wealth and the 
growth of cities, people began to 
seek amusement. Theatres were 
opened. Dances were frequent. 
Colonial social life and customs 
were patterned after those of 
London (§ 386 ff.). It was a 
period of finery, of fashion, and 
luxury. Those men who could 
afford it dressed in rich garments, 
faced with white satin and trimmed 
with lace or gold embroidery. 
The wealthy colonial dames at- 
tempted to make their gowns as 
rich and stylish as those of their 
English cousins. It was not, how- 
ever, an age of reckless extrava- 
gance, for styles did not change so 
rapidly then as now, and clothes 
were in fashion until worn out. It 
is a strange fact that finery did not tend to make these people 
effeminate. On the contrary their deeds have shown them 
brave, strong, and true. 




The Bird of Paradise 

A woman of extreme fashion, 
wearing an enormous headgear and 
a correspondingly elaborate dress. 
A fitting match for the Nosegay 
Macaroni. English fashion imi- 
tated in America. From Traill, 
'Social England.' 



IV. The Conflict in America 
1 690-1 783 

413. Separatism ; Wars with the French and Indians. — We 

have already noticed that the colonies were founded separately. 
It was only natural, then, for each settlement to develop its 
own customs and institutions with little regard for those of its 
neighbors. To a certain extent that feeling remains to this 
day; each state is proud of its own institutions, jealous of its 



37° The Conflict in America 

neighbors, and desirous of limiting federal control. Events 
began to take place, however, which tended to bring these 
colonies into sympathy with one another. France had laid 
claim to the basin of the St. Lawrence river. She had founded 
colonies at Quebec and Mon-tre-al'. Setting out from these 
places, French explorers discovered the Great Lakes and the 
region of the American continent drained by the Mississippi 
river and its tributaries. Naturally the English colonies had 
no wish to be confined to their narrow strip of sea coast. As 
they began to expand westward over the Alleghanies, they 
came into conflict with the French and their allies, the Indians. 
A long, hard struggle ensued. United by the common danger, 
the raw soldiers of the colonies fought side by side. In many 
instances they outdid the well-trained British troops in valor. 
Everywhere victory was with England and her colonists. 
Before 1763 they had secured the greater part of America north 
of Mexico. Much of this area remained to be explored. 

414. Why France Lost. — France completely lost her oppor- 
tunity to found a great colonial empire. There were many 
reasons why success did not crown her efforts. In the first place 
most of the resources of France were engaged in securing her 
supremacy on the continent of Europe. Little serious attention 
was paid to colonization. Then, too, the French were not a 
commercial people. Their nobles despised business ; they liked 
their fireside far too well to leave it for a journey to the " wilder- 
ness," as America was called. The persecuted Huguenots, 
who would gladly have sought homes in the New World, were 
forbidden to leave France. The majority of those who emi- 
grated were engaged in fur trading, fishing, or hunting. Others 
endeavored to convert Indians to Christianity or took part in 
fighting the English colonists. There was little inducement to 
form settled communities, which alone make for success in a 
new country. In cases where farming was attempted, the 
feudal system was introduced. Large grants of land were 
made to a few individuals and the peasants were expected to 
serve these proprietors as tenants. The only sound policy would 
have been to give the lands in full ownership to the peasants. 



Oppression 371 

415. England's Treatment of the Thirteen Colonies. — Un- 
doubtedly it was her commercial policy which brought about 
the loss of her thirteen colonies. As the mother country had 
undergone considerable trouble and expense to defend her 
oversea possessions, she naturally expected some sort of pay- 
ment in return. Throughout the eighteenth century the am- 
bition of England was to found a self-sufficing empire — one 
that could produce all materials necessary for its existence. 
In this way alone could she hope to be independent of rivals in 
time of war. This purpose explains why she seems to have 
treated her colonies as property to be exploited for profit. 
They were encouraged to grow rice, sugar, tobacco, and 
indigo as well as to furnish timber, pitch, and other naval sup- 
plies. Briefly these were the products which could not be 
grown at home. That this benefit might accrue to England 
alone, the colonists were not permitted to sell such goods to 
foreigners. 

Then, too, the colonies were looked upon as an outlet for 
English manufactures. Hence they were not allowed to make 
goods even to supply their own wants, but were required to 
purchase them from England. When one considers that the 
colonists could manufacture wares at one half the cost of im- 
ported articles, it is easy to understand their irritation at this 
drain on their purses. Finally the increased business with the 
colonies was intended to swell the volume of English trade. 
It was ordered therefore that they should export and import, 
not in foreign vessels, but solely in those that were owned by 
Englishmen and manned by English crews. The understand- 
ing was that the colonists, as Englishmen, could themselves 
engage in shipping. 

416. American Discontent. — As long as the colonists needed 
protection from the foes on their frontier, they were willing to 
bear such restrictions. Conditions changed, however, when 
the French were finally conquered. The new state of affairs 
led the colonists to different ways of living and thinking. By 
this time the majority of them were native-born Americans, 
rather than English. They were loyal therefore not to Eng- 



372 The Conflict in America 

land, but to the land of their birth. They chafed at the restric- 
tions which compelled them to furnish her with cheap raw 
materials, and in return to buy expensive manufactured goods 
from her. They wanted fair treatment and a share in the 
making of their own destinies. 

For a long time the colonists had evaded these laws with 
impunity. Now, however, the mother country sent over an 
army of soldiers to enforce the obnoxious restrictions. In order 
to raise money for the support of these troops, and for other 
objects, the English parliament passed what is known as the 
Stamp Act, which taxed legal documents. The attempt to 
enforce this law aroused hatred and met with stubborn op- 
position. 

417. Increasing Opposition. — From Massachusetts to 
Georgia Americans echoed the cry of James Otis : " Taxation 
without representation is tyranny." Patrick Henry declared 
the General Assembly of Virginia alone had the right and power 
to lay taxes upon the inhabitants of that colony. Needless to 
say, not a single stamp was ever sold. Orators like Otis and 
Henry awakened the public to resistance. Still later they 
were to arouse in the people a resolution to win their inde- 
pendence. 

The Stamp Act and customs duties were therefore repealed ; 
a small duty on tea alone was retained. It promised little 
revenue to Britain, and little hardship to the colonists. With 
the latter, however, it was a matter of principle : " the right 
to take a penny implies the right to take a pound." Patriotic 
families decided not to drink tea as long as it meant submission 
to tyranny. Every ship with tea in its cargo was forbidden to 
land. The story of the Boston Tea Party (December 16, 1773) 
is well known. Men of Massachusetts disguised as Indians 
boarded some British ships and emptied ninety thousand 
dollars' worth of tea into the water. 

Parliament decided that Massachusetts should be punished 
for this outrage. It set up an absolute military government in 
that province. It ordered that no ships should enter or leave 
the port of Boston. This act served only to cement the union 



Revolution 373 

between the colonies, to unite all in a spirit of resistance. Help 
and sympathy came from far-away Georgia to the stricken 
port of Boston. 

418. The Eve of the Revolution. — Twelve of the thirteen 
colonies sent delegates to a Congress held at Philadelphia 
(1774). They declared a boycott on English goods as long 
as Britain claimed a right to tax them. At last America 
was economically free. Her resources were amply sufficient 
for her needs. In spite of British prohibition she had learned 
to make all necessary articles. Political independence was 
inevitable. 

Stubbornly England refused to hear complaints or grant 
redress of wrongs. On the contrary her measures tended 
to widen the breach. Troops were quartered in the homes 
of the colonists, and on one occasion they murdered five 
citizens. 

419. The Revolution (1775-1783). — War had to come, and 
the Continental Congress of 1775 prepared for the inevitable. 
It placed its army under the command of George Washington, 
a rich young planter. His experience in the French and Indian 
war was to prove most valuable. Soon it became evident that 
no compromise was possible. On July 4, 1776, the Continental 
Congress, after serious discussion, declared the independence 
of the thirteen colonies which had united in the revolt. Many 
Americans, some because they believed that England would be 
sure to win and some from pure love for their mother country, 
refused to join in a war of independence. Many others were 
neutral, prepared to make terms with the winning side. There 
remained a considerable number of the colonists who, under 
the inspiring and steadfast leadership of Washington, resolved 
to carry the matter through to the bitter end, confident of the 
justice of their cause. 

For a time the fate of the colonies hung in the balance. 
Washington, who had occupied New York after some success 
in Massachusetts, was compelled to withdraw across the Hud- 
son and to retreat before a force too great for him. For many 
months he barely held his own, meeting frequent defeats and 



374 



The Conflict in America 



only now and then restoring the courage of his supporters by a 
brilliant exploit. Then a great victory came. A British army, 
marching down from Canada toward the Hudson, was sur- 
rounded and captured at Saratoga. Soon afterward France 
declared war on England and sent valuable aid to the struggling 
colonists. Gradually the British armies found that they were 



r n 




A Minute Man 

A man who in the Revolution was ready for service at a minute's notice, the princi- 
pal force of some colonies in the early part of the war. 

holding the ground only on which they camped and fought. 
At last the army of Washington, cooperating with a French 
fleet, caught the main British army under Lord Cornwallis in 
a trap at Yorktown. His surrender with all his force practically 
ended the war. England gave up the struggle, and acknowl- 
edged the independence of the colonies, now the United States 
of America (1783). 



Studies 375 

420. Growth of the British Empire. — England learned a 
lesson from her troubles with the American colonies. Their 
loss accordingly marked the deathknell of the old colonial 
system. " A new policy, based more on patriotism and senti- 
ment, and less on material considerations of profit and loss, 
took its place. Colonies began to be governed according to 
their own ideas, instead of being managed as if they were 
branches of a great trading firm." 1 

The colonial empire of England was not shattered by the 
loss of her American possessions. She remained the supreme 
naval and commercial power, the mistress of the seas. She 
retained Canada, a valuable country, the gateway to the vast 
resources of the great Northwest. Her claims in India were 
becoming even more firmly established. She captured the 
Cape of Good Hope from the Dutch, and not long afterward a 
large part of southern Africa became British. The impreg- 
nable fortress of Gibraltar, with its command of the entrance 
to the Mediterranean, had fallen into her hands. In addition an 
entire continent, Australia, had already (1770) been claimed in 
the name of her king. Profiting by past mistakes, the new British 
empire was to be even vaster and more glorious than the one 
England had lost. It continued to expand until to-day it is 
the greatest empire the world has ever known. 

Syllabus of the Struggle for World Empire 

I. England in conflict with Holland. 

1. East India Company; composition and objects. 

2. Rivalry of the Dutch; honesty; previous success; Naviga- 

tion Acts ; war ; final agreement. 

II. Success of the East India Company ; colonies; profits. 

III. The Bank of England. 

1. Origin and character. 

2. Relation to the government; credit and its advantages. 

IV. England in conflict with France. 

1. In India; the French company; achievements of Dupleix; 
Clive ; England gains the upper hand ; further history of 
the English company. 

1 Warner, 261. 



376 The Conflict in America 

2. In America : a. English colonies of various character ; occupa- 
tions; health; religion and morals; education; self- 
government ; social life. 

b. French colonies ; contrasts with English settlements. 

c. Wars between English and French ; English success. 

V. American Revolution. 

i. England's attitude toward the thirteen colonies; trade re- 
strictions. 

2. Colonial discontent and opposition, increased by new and 

oppressive restrictions; the Continental Congress of 1774. 

3. The war; George Washington and the army; Declaration of 

Independence ; French aid ; independence recognized. 

VI. Growth of the British empire. 

1. Lessons from the revolution ; new colonial policy. 

2. New acquisitions. 

Reading Topics 

For the whole subject read Hayes, Pol. and Soc. Hist, of Modern 
Europe, I. chs. ix, x. 

I. Customs and Amusements in the American Colonies. — Earle, 
Colonial Dames and Good Wives, chs. viii, ix; Eggleston, Life in the 
Eighteenth Century, especially chs. iv, viii, xiii, xix-xxi ; Hart, Ameri- 
can History told by Contemporaries, I. chs. xx, xxvi. 

II. Home and Family. — Earle, chs. xi, xii. 

III. Religion in the American Colonies. — Fisk, Colonization of 
the New World, ch. viii ; Lodge, Short History of the English Colonies 
in America, 423 ff. ; Andrews, C. M., Colonial Self -Government, ch. 
xviii; Hart, I. 324 ff. 

Directions for the Study of this Chapter 

1. With the syllabus before you tell what you know of the topics 
in their order. 2. Write an essay on one of the Reading Topics. 3. 
Two or three members of the class, in committee, may prepare a set 
of questions similar to those at the end of the last chapter, and the en- 
tire class may take part in answering them. 



CHAPTER XXV 

THE AGE OF DESPOTS 

i 648-1 789 

421. The New State-System. — With the Peace of West- 
phalia, 1648 (§ 340) Europe finally came to appreciate the 
fact that Spain had lost her leadership. For a century she 
had threatened to absorb the other states of Europe ; and this 
experience brought public men to the conviction that it would 
be unwise again to allow any monarchy to become so great as 
to endanger the rest. The new international principle is 
termed the " balance of power." As France was now the 
strongest power on the Continent, the others had to combine 
in self -protection ; for then, as now, a strong nation always 
wished to become still more powerful. Any pretext served for 
seizing and annexing a smaller neighbor. The larger states, 
too, felt the need of joining together not merely to protect 
themselves, but also to share in the spoils of victory; for the 
balance of power provided that no great state should be en- 
larged without a corresponding enlargement of the other great 
powers. The system thus arising gave a new impetus and a 
new direction to negotiations and alliances. New questions 
had to be settled as to the rights of ambassadors, the proper 
attitude of neutral nations, and the treatment of prisoners of 
war. These questions Grotius x answered in his text-book on 
diplomacy, Laws of War and Peace. By consulting this work, 
too, statesmen found that they could often settle their inter- 
national disputes without recourse to war. 

422. Louis XIV and his Nobles. — France retained her 
leadership in European affairs throughout the long reign of 

1 A Dutch scholar, 1583-1645. 
377 



378 Age of Despots 

Louis XIV (1643-1715). Earlier French kings had lived like 
ordinary nobles; their simple habits continued with little 
change throughout the sixteenth century. When they finally 
overcame the feudal lords, they naturally wished to make 
their superiority clear to all men's eyes. They surrounded 
themselves accordingly with elaborate etiquette and ceremony. 
This was especially true of Louis XIV. The nobles had been 
deprived of their last shred of power, and many feudal castles 
had been demolished. Driven from their estates, the nobles 
gladly accepted a home at the court of their sovereign (§ 341). 
They were, as formerly, officers of the army. In peace, how- 
ever, they passed their time at court in idle luxury. They 
vied with each other in performing servants' duties for the 
" Grand Monarch." 

423. The Gourt at Versailles. — Disliking the old palace of 
the Louvre, Louis built a new one at Ver-sailles' — a suburb 
of Paris — more magnificent than Europe had known since the 
days of the Roman emperors. The building with its furnish- 
ings cost a hundred million dollars. In forming an idea of this 
sum we must remember that the purchasing power of money 
was far greater then than it is at present. The annual expense of 
maintaining the royal household — including the nobles fortunate 
enough to find a place there, and the servants — was enormous. 

Everything was minutely regulated. In spite of all his 
variety of affairs and amusements, with an almanac and a 
watch one might tell three hundred leagues away exactly what 
Louis was doing at any time of the day or night. There were 
nobles who attended to the function of carrying the king's 
sword when he walked or rode ; others solemnly marched in 
front of his food in its roundabout procession from the kitchen 
to his table ; the duty of another was to hand him his napkin. 
Unfortunately this table ceremony was so prolonged that the 
food was always cold by the time it reached the royal family. 

In fact the king never enjoyed a minute of freedom. Some 
two hundred persons were present at his rising in the morning. 
Various nobles attended to bringing him water for washing 
and the several articles of his dress. All the other acts of his 



Court Life 



379 



daily life called for equal pomp, as though they were religious 
functions and Louis a god on earth. His queen and dauphin 
(heir apparent) were surrounded by similar formalities. Louis 
had made of the nobles courtiers, rendering them powerless. 
They were often discontented, however, and jealous of each 
other ; court life was filled with intrigues. The king, too, had 
made himself a slave to ceremony. 

424. Formalism and Servility. — Louis, however, was not 
entirely to blame, for he did little more than direct the spirit 




Versailles 
Described in the text. From Pardoe, 'Louis XIV.' 



of the age. An elaborate court life suited the nobles; the 
higher classes were pleased with formalism. The men of the 
time lacked originality and substantial minds. They preferred 
outward show; they willingly enslaved themselves to fashion. 
The nobles who were allowed to remain at home imitated the 
king at Versailles. The wealthy business class — bourgeoisie 
— imitated the noble. Life was artificial, and enjoyment a 
mere pretence. Religion, too, was a formality, no longer a 
condition of the soul. 



380 Age of Despots 

Louis encouraged men of letters. To secure his favor, how- 
ever, they had to flatter him. Insincerity and imitation per- 
vaded the writings of the period. According to Saint Simon, 
the most eminent of memoir writers, Louis had if the very 
figure of a hero, proportions such as a sculptor would choose 
to model, a perfect countenance, and the grandest air and mean 
ever vouchsafed to man. . . . He was as dignified and majestic 
in his dressing gown as when he dressed in robes of state, 
or on horseback at the head of his troops. He excelled in 
all sorts of exercise. No fatigue nor stress of weather made 
any impression on that heroic figure and bearing. So much 
for his exterior, which has never been equalled nor even 
approached." * 

We find the reverse of this picture in an author who complains 
that " Louis XIV's vanity was without limit or restraint, hence 
those opera prologues that he himself tried to sing, that flood of 
verse in his praise, and the insipid and sickening compliments 
that were continually offered to him in person and which he 
swallowed with unfailing relish, hence his distaste for all merit, 
intelligence, and education, his mistakes of judgment in matters 
of importance, and above everything else, a jealousy of his own 
authority." 2 

425. Absolutism. — Louis was an absolute ruler. In fact 
that form of government was the most common throughout 
Europe in this period. It is doubtful whether Louis really 
said, " I am the State," as historians have asserted ; but at all 
events these words well express the subjection of all things to 
the royal will. Louis thoroughly believed that he had been ap- 
pointed by God to rule, and that he was His representative on 
earth. To disobey the king was to disobey God (§ 374). 
Strange as it may seem, the French people accepted these teach- 
ings and were willing to place absolute power in the hands of their 
king. Unlike the English they did not know what liberty really 
meant. Their parliament, the estates general (§211), had never 
controlled the state funds. Long ago that body had fallen into 
disuse. Then, too, Louis was every inch a king ; he was hand- 
1 Robinson, Readings, II. 285. 2 Ibid., 286. 



War and Exhaustion 381 

some, and possessed a pleasing personality. In short, he was 
in appearance a true type of majesty. 

426. Poverty and War. — We have seen the bright side of 
the Grand Monarch's reign, and the life of the upper classes 
with their wealth and luxury. On the other hand, the masses 
were hopelessly poor (§ 351). There was, too, a general lack 
of progress in every walk of life. These unfortunate conditions 
were due not only to the extravagance of the wealthy, but to 
the foreign conflicts of Louis's reign. He wished to maintain 
the leadership of France in European affairs. Unfortunately 
his ambitions were not peaceful. Although he cared little for 
industry, commerce, or colonies, he wished France to be wealthy. 
He believed, however, that the best way to make her prosperous 
was to reduce her neighbors to poverty and distress. Another 
ambition was to add glory to his name and to France by the 
sword. To this end he reorganized his forces and began to 
make unjustifiable attacks upon his neighbors. He looked with 
longing eyes upon the Spanish Netherlands, which he attacked 
with his magnificent army. Successful there, he next attempted 
to crush the little Dutch Republic. 

427. Exhaustion. — We need not follow in detail his many 
conflicts with other countries. Awakened to the danger of a 
master tyrant, all Europe united to resist France. The tide 
turned against her, and Louis was finally compelled to conclude 
peace. France was allowed to preserve her own territory and 
some of her conquests. Her power, however, was broken. 
She was crippled by her loss of fighting men and of money. 
The treasury was empty. The country was impoverished, and 
no longer able to pay for the luxuries of Versailles. Louis had 
to draw so heavily upon his private income that his fine estates 
were ruined. The grand monarch, though surrounded with 
splendor, was in fact poverty-stricken. He died in disappoint- 
ment at an extreme old age (17 15). 

428. The Finances under Louis XIV. — Louis's ministers 
kept him from going into bankruptcy. The important offices 
he had put into the hands of competent business men, and 
had rewarded able service with grants of nobility. The most 



382 Age of Despots 

efficient of these ministers was Col-bert'. He wished to make 
France a commercial state ; to transfer her ambition from war 
to finance ; to manage her policy on sound business principles. 
He failed only because his master cared less for commerce than 
for military glory. Although Colbert attempted to r introduce 
new industries, in this effort he did not receive the steady sup- 
port of the Crown. 

The minister protested frankly against the expenses of Ver- 
sailles, that it would perhaps afford the king pleasure and 
amusement, but would never increase his glory. The king 
kept pouring out money ever faster. In order to pay expenses, 
greater amounts had to come in. Hitherto capitalists had 
bidden for the privilege of collecting taxes. All they could 
extort above the amount of the bid belonged to them. The 
abuses of this system may easily be imagined. Although Col- 
bert dared not abolish the lease of taxes, he placed the system 
under strict supervision. With his careful management the 
rate of taxation became lower, and revenues increased. 

429. Failure of Absolutism in France. — Reckless wars, 
court extravagance, and the neglect of colonial affairs were 
results of Louis's mismanagement. In a spirit of religious 
fervor he had revoked the Edict of Nantes (§ 338), and with- 
drew all privileges from the Huguenots. Many thousands 
emigrated to countries where they might worship God accord- 
ing to their conscience. They carried with them their skill and 
thrift. As a majority of them belonged to the middle class, 
which forms a large part of a nation's strength, their departure 
left France poorer and weaker. In every way the absolutism 
of Louis failed ; and he was himself responsible for the lasting 
damage which his policy inflicted upon his country. 

430. Sweden. — In our study of this period it is necessary 
to mention some of the smaller nations which rendered impor- 
tant services to Europe. Sweden had aided the cause of 
Protestantism in Germany when it seemed about to fail. Under 
her absolute rulers she became for a time a great power. Her 
citizens were men who had been trained in the hard school of 
necessity. They were austere, warlike, and ambitious. Their 



Sweden 383 

statesmen were military and naval organizers of the first 
rank. 

At the age of fifteen their young King Charles XII took part 
in the Council and showed a judgment far beyond his years. 
He was a precocious genius in both war and statesmanship. 
The virtues ascribed to him included truth, courtesy, piety, 
and a sound sense of honor and fair play. He was, however, 
but a magnified type of a people who had breathed the virile 
atmosphere of Sweden. Strong in character and courageous, 
he displayed one great fault, a reckless daring in thinking out 
and in executing brilliant but dangerous plans for the discom- 
fiture of his enemies. Under him Sweden reached the height 
of her power. His whole reign (1697-1718) was filled with 
wars. At first he defended his country with wonderful intelli- 
gence and success against a combination of all her neighbors. 
Then the savior of Sweden attempted the conquest of Russia. 
It was a hopeless task even for this new Alexander the Great, 
who after a romantic career was killed by a cannon ball. The 
strength of Sweden was broken by constant warfare. Every 
artisan and one of every two peasants had been taken for 
soldiers. War's effect on industry and agriculture need not 
be described. Rapidly Sweden sank to a third-rate power, a 
position which she holds to-day. 

431. Poland. — A far greater service not only to Europe but 
to civilization was performed by Poland, then a powerful na- 
tion, but now divided among the Russian, Austrian, and Ger- 
man empires. In 1453 the Turks (§§ 202, 239) finally captured 
Constantinople. They already held the Balkan peninsula and 
were preparing to conquer central Europe. Gradually they 
extended their sway westward, and assailed Vienna (1683). 
Here the armies of Poland finally checked them, and put an 
end to Turkey's hopes in this direction. Little did western 
Europe know how its whole civilization had been threatened. 
A century later the work of Poland was forgotten. At that 
time the nation was in the throes of a struggle for internal 
reform and unable to defend herself against foreign attack. 
Taking advantage of this condition, Russia, Prussia, and 



384 Age of Despots 

Austria seized the country. For years they quarrelled over 
the division of the spoils while Poland remained powerless to 
resist. Then a final partition was made, each of the three 
kingdoms receiving a share (1795). The wanton destruction 
of a state by avowedly Christian neighbors remains a blot on 
the history of civilization. 1 

432. The Beginnings of Russia.. — From the thirteenth to 
the sixteenth century Russia was cut off from western Europe. 
She had no seaport, for between her and the Black Sea lived 
the Tartars and the Turks, whereas the Swedes and Poles barred 
her from the Baltic. For these reasons she had little to do with 
the rest of the world. Her neighbors tried to keep her civiliza- 
tion at as low a level as possible that she might not rival them 
in war or in industry. She had long been held in subjection 
by the Tartars, who coming from Asia, had overrun the entire 
country. These barbarian rulers so repressed all attempts at 
progress that the Russians ceased to wish for better things. 
The ideas of western Europe came to them but slowly over- 
land, and they were too ignorant and too downtrodden to 
welcome intelligent visitors. 

433. Peter the Great (1689-1725). — Such was the condition of 
Russia Avhen Peter the Great came to the throne. He was a true 
child of his race, a man of hot temper, inflamed by excessive 
drinking. His genius and energy were directed toward moderniz- 
ing his country. In order to become acquainted with the cus- 
toms of civilization, Peter with his uncouth barbarian suite visited 
western Europe. Their experiences were amusing, but they were 
quick to grasp new ideas. With childlike wonder Peter and his 
retinue visited factories, museums, printing presses, hospitals, 
and the House of Parliament. He must have been deeply 
impressed by western arts and industries, for he offered large 
inducements to foreigners to settle in his country. The Russian 
nobles were jealous of these strangers who usurped their place 
in the favor of the Czar. It must be said to Peter's credit, 
however, that he was always kind in the treatment of his guests. 

1 In the autumn of 1916 the German emperor proclaimed the restoration of 
Poland — evidently a war measure to secure the military service of the Poles. 



Russia 385 

Determined to obtain a seaport for his country, Peter in- 
terested himself in naval affairs. He was a born mechanic 
and wished to acquire a personal knowledge of shipbuilding. 
With this object in view he spent much of his time in the ship- 
yards of Holland. Here he wrought much with his own hands 
and made all about him work at the models of ships. When he 
returned home, he took with him an experienced corps of ship- 
builders. 

434. Peter's Reforms — In our own time reforms are 
brought about gradually. Peter understood, however, that to 
introduce new ideas into Russia would be like planting a mine, 
for his people hated foreigners and foreign customs. Russia, 
too, was in a state of anarchy due principally to the insolent 
and arrogant militia, who on Peter's accession had hoped to 
seize the reins of government. These soldiers he destroyed in 
one massacre. The act was barbarous, but it served as an 
object lesson. The militia he replaced with a well-disciplined 
force modelled after western armies. He was determined to 
be an absolute ruler in fact as well as in name. To this end he 
rid himself of the Patriarch of the Russian church, who had 
often interfered in civil matters and had seriously inconvenienced 
the government. Peter appointed a committee, called the 
Holy Synod, to take charge of church affairs. In this way 
the Czar of Russia became head of the church, and all restraint 
upon his power vanished. 

Peter could now enforce his reforms upon his people. He 
issued a new coinage, introduced a school system, and en- 
couraged manufacturing and mining, for Russia was rich. in 
natural resources. He built roads and canals on a huge scale, 
drew up a code of laws, and modelled his government after that 
of a western state. In a few years the Czar knew to a penny 
the amount of all his income, and how every penny was spent. 

435. The Founding of Petrograd. — Peter's greatest task 
was the founding of his capital. He had succeeded in wresting 
a large strip of the Baltic seaboard from Sweden, thus satisfy- 
ing his naval ambition. For his place of residence and his 
principal seaport he chose an island at the mouth of the Neva. 



386 Age of Despots 

The ground was low and swampy and the work of filling it in 
stupendous. The Czar set armies of men to work at this 
huge task. " He went about, it in winter, in the month of 
November, when the ice was so strong that it could bear any 
weight, causing it to carry materials such as timber and stone. 
The foundation was thus laid. Trees of about thirty feet in 
length and about fifteen inches thick were taken and joined 
artfully together into chests ten feet high; these chests were 
filled with stones of great weight which sunk down through the 
sea, and made a very solid foundation." * The marsh was 
soon transformed into one of the most splendid capitals of 
Europe. Pe'tro-grad, formerly St. Petersburg, is a worthy 
monument to the energetic spirit of its founder. 

Peter and his successors were conquerors. Russian armies 
subjugated and annexed the Cri-me'an peninsula, thus giving 
the empire dominion over the Black Sea. Then, too, as we 
have seen, Russia shared in the seizure of Poland. Before the 
close of the eighteenth century, her boundaries in Europe ap- 
proximated those of to-day. 

436. The Adoption of Western Customs. — Peter forced his 
subjects to adopt western social customs. Under penalty of a 
heavy fine the Russians were compelled to shave off the beards 
which they cherished so much. " There were many old Rus- 
sians, who, after having their beards shaved off, saved them 
preciously, in order to have them placed in their coffins, fearing 
that they could not enter heaven without their beards. The 
young men followed the custom willingly, as it made them 
appear more agreeable to the fair sex." 2 

Noblemen had to forego their long Oriental garb which 
reached the feet, to adopt the French fashion of coat, vest, and 
knee breeches, and to adorn themselves with silver and gold 
according to their means. As a punishment for disobedience 
the guards were ordered to cut off the part of the robe that fell 
below the knee. Noble women, too, had to discard the native 
costume and to put on the gowns and tight bodices of western 
Europe. All peasants, however, retained the native dress. 

1 Robinson, Readings, II, 309 f. 2 Ibid., 311. 



Prussia 



387 



Under the old custom men and women rarely met in social 
festivities ; but in future they were to mingle in the same hall 
on the occasion of weddings, banquets, and receptions, as in 
the West. Such entertainments usually closed with dances 
and concerts, to which those only were admitted who were 
dressed in the Western style. Peter set the example in all 
these changes. 

437. Prussia. — Prussia was somewhat slower in becoming 
a great power. For the beginnings of this nation it is necessary 
to go back to Bran'den-burg, one of the many states of the 




Russian Peasants 

A young man and woman are performing a folk dance amid a group of neighbors. 
A characteristic rural scene. From Racinet, 'Le costume historique.' 



Holy Roman Empire. She was aggressive, however, and ab- 
sorbed the neighboring duchy of Prussia. Her ruler then be- 
came the king of Prussia. The mightiest of this line of rulers 
was Frederick the Great (1 740-1 786). He inherited with the 
throne a full treasury and an army of fighting giants, men of 
unusual height and strength whom his father had selected with 
the greatest care. Napoleon declared him to have been one of 
the greatest generals of all time. He was successful in in- 
creasing the size of his kingdom by a third. 

The greater part of his reign was peaceful, and here he showed 
his true greatness. He was a father of his people and labored 



388 Age of Despots 

to improve their condition. He encouraged agriculture, manu- 
factures, and trade. At the same time he made many improve- 
ments in bridges, roads, and canals. His administration was 
efficient and economical. Under him Prussia became a first- 
class power, the rival of Austria. 

'Frederick deplored the lack of a German literature. Once 
he said, " In order to convince yourself of the bad taste that 
reigns in Germany you have only to frequent the theatre. 
There you will see presented the abominable plays of Shake- 
speare translated into our language, and the whole audience 
transported with delight by these absurd farces, fit only for 
the savages of Canada." 

He complains further of " French music, French gallantry 
and frivolity. I fear, too, we will come to a French death, for 
our sins deserve no other. The French cannot devise anything 
so absurd that the Germans, in imitating it, will not make it 
still more ridiculous." Frederick hoped to unearth a German 
genius and to encourage him with royal patronage. " Some 
day," he declared, " our neighbors will learn German, and our 
language, polished and perfected by our writers, will be spoken, 
not in court circles only, but throughout the length and breadth 
of Europe." 

438. The Commons and the Benevolent Despots. — In this 
chapter we have had little to say of the common people. 1 Their 
condition was about the same as it had been during the two or 
three preceding centuries. As a rule they were poor. Their 
lack of progress was due to the constant warfare among their 
sovereigns and to the ever-increasing extravagance of court 
life. People placidly accepted the theory of the divine right 
of kings. The age was accordingly a struggle between great 
personalities, and the masses were but silent actors in the dramas 
which their rulers directed. The strong characters we have been 
studying are called benevolent despots — despots because they 
exercised complete control over their realms ; benevolent because 
they sincerely tried to better conditions. They were men of 
genius and ability and may be considered partially successful. 

1 For social life in France, see ch. xxi. 



Austria 389 

439- Joseph II of Austria (1765-1790) ; End of the Benevo- 
lent Despots. — There were many others whose aims were 
high, but who were not born leaders. One of the most pathetic 
figures in all history was Joseph II of Austria. He aimed to 
transform his dominion into an ideal state. He wished to 
make the many races under his rule one in customs, language, 
and ideas. This end he failed to bring about. He lacked the 
tact and wisdom to take into account the prejudices of the 
different peoples who composed his kingdom. His impatience 
caused unrest and his reign was a constant turmoil of revolts. 
This well-intentioned man died broken-hearted with the dis- 
covery that his life had been a failure. 

Joseph proved to be the last of the benevolent despots. 
Europe owes much to them, for in many cases their reforms 
were of permanent benefit. At the same time they were ham- 
pered by being despots, for their people were not permitted a 
share in the reform work. Long experience has now taught 
the world that improvements, to be enduring, must spring from 
the people. In the following chapter we shall see how the 
people awoke to their responsibilities, and how they succeeded 
in their work of reform. 

440. Summary. — In this period a new state system, on the 
basis of the balance of power, came into being, and international 
law made a great advance. The progress of peace, however, 
was retarded by despots, like Louis XIV, Charles XII, and 
Peter the Great, who waged wars for the conquest of neighbors. 
These conflicts were destructive of life and property, generally 
without compensatory gains. The commons were the sufferers 
to such an extent that they could make neither economic nor 
political progress. 

Louis XIV, the most brilliant type of a despot, wasted the 
money and energy of his people not only on war but also on 
the frivolities of his court. Under his sway the nobles became 
idle spendthrifts — mere burdens upon the nation ; and the 
intellectual class were so given to formalities that they lost 
for the time their sense of truth. 

Absolutism, however, was an advantage to Russia in that it 



39° Age of Despots 

forced her to adopt western civilization. It was an advantage 
also to the Germans in founding the strong kingdom of Prussia. 
In Austria despotism, though benevolent in purpose, wholly- 
failed in its objects. Genuine reform was to spring from the 
hearts of the people. 

Topics for Reading 

I. Peter the Great. — Hayes, Political and Social History of Modern 
Europe, I, 366-79 ; Robinson and Beard, Development of Modern 
Europe, I, ch. 'iv. § 11; How, S. E., A Thousand Years of Russian 
History, chs. vii, viii; Robinson, Readings, II. 303-12. 

II. Louis XIV. — Hayes, I, ch. vii ; Robinson and Beard, I, chs. i, ii ; 
Adams, Growth of the French Nation, ch. xiii ; Robinson, Readings, 
II, 273-96. 

Review 

1. What is meant by the balance of power? What were the cir- 
cumstances that led to its growth? Who was Grotius, and for what is 
he famous? 2. What change took place in the habits and ceremonies 
of the French kings, and through what causes? 3. Describe court life 
at Versailles. 4. Describe the formalism and servility of society under 
Louis XIV. What contrary opinions of this king were set down by 
his contemporaries? 5. What is absolutism? What is the " divine 
right of kings? " What made the French willing to accept this doc- 
trine? 6. What impoverished the great majority of Frenchmen? 
What were Louis's views and policy as to increasing the greatness of 
France? 7. Give an account of Louis's wars and their results. 8. What 
was the state of his finances, and what remedies were attempted? 

9. How did Louis treat the Huguenots, and with what result? 

10. What was the character of the Swedes? Give an account of the 
career of Charles XII. What were the effects of his wars? n. What 
was the great achievement of Poland? What was her fate ? 12. What 
was the condition of Russia before Peter the Great? 13. What was the 
character of Peter the Great? How did he prepare himself for the im- 
provement of his country? 14. Describe his reforms. 15. Give an 
account of the founding of Petrograd ; of Peter's conquests. 16. What 
western customs did he introduce, and by what means? 17. Describe 
the beginnings of Prussia. Give an account of the ideas and the achieve- 
ments of Frederick the Great. 18. What part had the common people 
in this age? Who were benevolent despots? 19. Give an account 
of the aims of Joseph II of Austria. Why did he fail? 20. Summarize 
the tendencies and conditions of the period. 



Studies 391 

Additional Studies 

1. Write a brief history of Spain from the discovery of America 
to the time of Louis XIV, including the causes of her greatness and de- 
cline. 2. Why did despotism prevail on the Continent during the 
period 1 648-1 789? 3. Why did not the impoverished and oppressed 
masses revolt in this period ? 4. Why was life in Paris under Louis XIV 
more formal than it is to-day? 5. What is wrong in Louis's theory 
of war? 6. As Spain lost her leadership, what power took her place 
on the Continent? on the seas? 7. Compare the French method of 
taxation with the Roman method. Was there any connection? 
What were the specific results of Louis's reign? 9. Why has Poland 
not figured more largely in the history of Europe ? 10. Why did Peter 
the Great succeed so well while Joseph II met with absolute failure? 
11. Did the introduction of Western dress into Russia contribute much 
to her civilization ? Give reasons for your answer. 12. Write a sylla- 
bus of this chapter. 13. Write an essay on one of the Reading Topics. 



CHAPTER XXVI 

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND NAPOLEON 

1789-1815 

441. Condition of the Peasants; the Corvee and the Game 
Laws. — Judged by the standard of our own age, France in 
the eighteenth century presented a wretched picture. Its 
unpleasant details are best set forth by Arthur Young, an 
English country gentleman, who kept a diary of his travels 
in that country. He found that less than one fourth of the 
arable land was owned by the peasants themselves. These 
freeholders corresponded to the yeomen of England. Their 
lot was comparatively happy. In many places the traveller 
found farmers working their land on half profits. While 
cooperative farming, as this plan is called, has proved success- 
ful at the present time, the conditions of that age were not 
favorable to partnership. There were frequent disputes be- 
tween tenant and landlord regarding profits and amount of 
work to be done ; and in all such misunderstandings the owner 
had an undue advantage. 

The peasants were no longer bound to the soil, and in that 
respect they were free from serfdom ; but they were still sub- 
ject to the most vexatious burdens of serfdom. Among the 
gravest abuses still inflicted on the peasantry was the corvee, 
or forced labor on bridges and roads. It was usually when 
his fields needed cultivating, or his crops were ready for har- 
vesting, that the corvee demanded his services. For this rea- 
son it tended to demoralize the honest, sober, hard-working 
farmer. It laid hands not only on him, but on his team of 
horses and his plough as well. In many cases he had to travel 

392 



Oppression 393 

to a distance of twenty miles, there to spend several days in 
repairing a bridge or filling in a swamp. Although this work 
had to be done and all had to contribute to it, the oppressive 
method of distributing the labor meant a loss of ten times the 
gain. 

When the peasant returned from his work on the roads, 
it often happened that he found that his newly sown seed had 
been devoured by the flocks of pigeons. Unfortunately he 
could not protect himself from this outrage, for the pigeons 
were owned by nobles. The hares and deer, too, of the nobles 
were permitted to roam at large through the fields of the peas- 
sant. It was inevitable that his crops should be damaged. 
Naturally local famines were of common occurrence, for at 
best crops were scanty. 

442. Burdensome Taxes. — It was both difficult and ex- 
pensive to bring supplies to a famine-stricken region from a 
neighboring province. In the first place roads were poor and 
often impassable. In a commercial sense at least, France 
was not a united nation. Although at the present time customs 
duties are collected only when goods are brought from a foreign 
country, in that age a tax was collected at the boundary of 
each province. This added expense eventually came from the 
consumer's pocket. Had he wished, the king would have been 
unable to remedy this evil, for each province had its own laws, 
customs, and government. As a matter of fact the king cared 
little, so long as each district continued to pay its quota of 
taxes. 

Another serious fault of the old system was that the financial 
burdens fell most heavily on the peasant. The privilege of 
collecting the taxes was leased to the highest bidder (§ 101). 
This system gave rise to all kinds of favoritism, which the public 
had to make good by increased burdens. There was a land tax 
and a poll tax. The most vexatious of all, however, seems to 
have been the salt tax. In France at that time the government 
made the traffic in salt a state monopoly for the purpose of 
raising a revenue. Under penalty of a fine the head of a house- 
hold was obliged to purchase annually for every member of his 



394 French Revolution . 

i 
family several pounds of salt, although they did not need nearly 

so much. The price was exorbitant, and the burden fell with 

greatest weight on those who were least capable of bearing it. 

The whole system inflicted on the peasants a poverty and misery 

from which there could be no escape. 

443. Unequal Rights ; the Peasants' Intelligence. — It was 
becoming more and more evident that the poverty and wretch- 
edness were due to a miserable system of despotism and of 
feudal rule. All Frenchmen by no means enjoyed the same 
rights. The peasants, as we have seen, had no privileges, al- 
though they formed the bulk of the nation. The nobles and 
clergy escaped many burdens which other citizens had to bear. 
They did not have to pay the heaviest taxes ; they did not have 
to work on the roads or serve in the militia. These privileges 
the nobles as feudal lords had enjoyed for centuries. Al- 
though many nobles were newly created by the king, and had 
no right therefore to the feudal dues, they exacted them ille- 
gally. Little they gave the peasants in return. 

It seems clear that in spite of all these afflictions the peasants 
of France were freer and more prosperous than, for instance, 
those of Germany. The French peasants, however, were far 
better educated and more intelligent, and therefore more sen- 
sitive to the wrongs inflicted upon them. Paradoxical as it 
may seem, their better condition and their intellectual advance 
over the masses of central Europe roused among them a more 
intense disctontent than could be found elsewhere on the Conti- 
nent, and thus prepared them for revolt against the oppressive 
system. 

444. Absent Lords and their Peasants. — The evils follow- 
ing upon the emigration of nobles to Paris and Versailles, al- 
ready described (§§ 341, 351), grew greater year by year. As 
their luxuries at court increased, the exactions of their stewards 
became' more oppressive. The personal bond that had once 
united the peasants to their lord was broken. It became more 
and more odious to them to perform services for a master whom 
they had never seen, and who, they knew well, cared nothing 
for them. In fact many nobles had bought their title of the 



Evils in the Church 395 

king for money, and therefore had no claim whatever on the 
loyalty of their peasants. 

445. Evils in the Church. — Another evil was the entangle- 
ment of the Catholic church with political and social affairs. We 
must grant that it performed important public services. Its 
schools were the best in France ; it took charge of the sick and 
the poor. This work was done, however, by the village priests 
— the curates and vicars, although they received hardly enough 
to keep body and soul together. It was the upper clergy — 
bishops and abbots — who were well-to-do. Some were great 
feudal nobles and enjoyed huge incomes. For example, Car- 
dinal de Ro-han' had a princely income. His palace contained 
seven hundred beds, and his stables had accommodation for a 
hundred and eighty horses. He had fourteen butlers and could 
entertain at one time two hundred guests with their servants. 
Others were not far behind him. These men did nothing to 
earn their income ; they neither taught nor exerted themselves 
to improve the condition of the unfortunate. They were cor- 
rupt and useless, and spent most of their time at the amuse- 
ments of Versailles. 

Furthermore the Church owned one fifth of the land of 
France. It paid no taxes, for the land belonged to God, and 
He was not subject to taxation. Occasionally the church 
granted a sum of money to the state — it was clearly under- 
stood, however, that this was a gift, not a tax. Besides the 
income from its own possessions, the church derived a large 
revenue from- the tithes. This was a tax of about ten per cent 
on the produce of the fields, and was paid by those who tilled 
the soil. The peasant cannot be blamed for chafing under this 
heavy burden, and for revolting against the church as well as 
against the political system. 

446. The Need of Reform ; Voltaire. — In this period men 
began to understand in a general way that conditions were 
wrong and that reform was necessary. Unfortunately the 
French had little experience in managing their own affairs. 
The estates general (§211) had not been called during the cen- 
tury and a half before the time of which we are now speaking. 



396 French Revolution 

Since then there had been no leaders, no men trained in mak- 
ing constitutions and in carrying on the work of government as 
representatives of the nation. 

About the middle of the eighteenth century there was born 
a new school of French thinkers. Religion had lost its hold 
on them ; so that they could treat of mathematics, history, 
philosophy, medicine, and physics without theological bias. 
In their enthusiasm they went too far, for they declared reli- 
gion an imposture of priests, a living sham. The ablest of 
these critics was Vol-taire' (1694-1778), undoubtedly the most 
influential man of his age. " He was a good philosopher, a 
good scientist, a good historian, and a poet that barely missed 
being immortal. Nothing was foreign to his restless mind. 
One minute he is urging that dead people should be buried 
outside cities ; at another he is an enthusiast for vaccination ; 
now he writes volumes on physics ; now he is experimenting 
with light ; now he writes a history of Louis XIV, or Charles 
XII of Sweden, whose charm men cannot yet escape ; now he is 
a poet and a dramatist." 1 A master of ridicule, he directed his 
satire and sarcasm against Catholics and Protestants alike. 
He urged complete separation of church and state, if not the 
complete abolition of religion. In seeking to rid men's minds of 
super stitition he destroyed their faith and failed to put any- 
thing else in its place. In like manner he made known the 
evils of the social and economic system, but failed to propose 
definite remedies. 

447. The Encyclopaedists. — Even more radical in their 
views were the Encyclopaedists. Led by an able scholar, 
Di-de-rot', they produced the first French encyclopaedia. 
In this work they attempted to bring together all that was 
known to man. They used every opportunity, however, to 
attack Christianity though they did not question the existence 
of God. In other words they were deists. In political affairs 
they were radicals. 

They believed that every government was " a mere handful 
of knaves who impose their yoke upon men. We see on the 
1 Mathews, French Revolution, 59. 



Revolutionary Literature 397 

face of the globe only incapable, unjust sovereigns, weakened 
> by luxury, corrupted by flattery, depraved through unpunished 
license, and without talent, morals, or good qualities." In 
this way writers with a brilliant style and a wealth of learning 
began to urge the abolition of all government. By biting sar- 
casm such writers made clear the wretchedness and suffering 
which existed in France. 

448. Rousseau (17 12-17 78). — O n the other hand Rous-seau' 
was a man of great reverence. At first a devout Catholic, he 
believed that his faith could be simplified by clearing away the 
overgrowth of errors. Most of his attention he turned to social 
conditions, government, and education. He believed that 
every good quality in man is stifled by the absurd social insti- 
tutions forced upon him. Civilized man is born, lives, dies in 
a state of slavery. At his birth he is sewn in swaddling clothes ; 
at his death he is nailed in a coffin ; and as long as he preserves 
the human form, he is fettered by our institutions. Man 
should be taught, not some career chosen by his parents, but how 
really to live. The sum of all wisdom is contained in these words : 
" Observe Nature and follow the path she traces for you !" 

449. Rousseau's Social Contract. — Of greatest importance, 
however, was his Social Contract. In this book Rousseau 
created a modern state based on liberty and equality. The 
writer explains the state as the result of a contract between 
men, in which each man is subject to the general will. The 
will of the sovereign people is right, though not always wise. 
The government is merely the machinery which executes laws 
and maintains liberty. Every citizen should vote on every 
question. Naturally such theories would never work out in 
practice. His view of popular sovereignty could only result 
in anarchy or in the tyranny of the mob. Yet there was a 
kernel of wisdom in his thought of a society that could reason 
for itself. This principle he succeeded in spreading throughout 
Europe. Connecting itself with social discontent, it came to 
mean either reform or revolution. 

450. Revolutionary Agitation. — From that time forward the 
political life of Paris began to afford an exciting spectacle. 



398 French Revolution 

The issue of pamphlets increased by leaps and bounds. Print- 
ing presses were running night and day. " Nineteen- twentieths 
of these productions are in favor of liberty and are commonly 
violent against the clergy and nobility. It is easy to conceive 
the spirit that must thus be raised among the people. But the 
coffee houses in the Palais Royal present yet more astonishing 
spectacles ; they are not only crowded within, but other ex- 
pectant crowds are at the doors and windows, listening to cer- 
tain orators, who from chairs or tables harangue each his little 
audience; the eagerness with which they are heard, and the 
thunder of applause they receive for every sentiment of more 
than common violence against the present government, cannot 
easily be imagined." l 

451. Louis XVI (beginning 1774). — In such an atmosphere 
Louis XVI ascended the throne. Religious and sincere, he 
showed a kindly disposition and economical habits. Though 
headstrong, he always tried to do what he thought to be the 
best for his country. He wished to be considered one of his 
people, and to be called Louis the Sincere. On the whole his 
private character was admirable. He was unfit, however, to 
be king. His education was poor, and he utterly lacked imagi- 
nation. He was easily influenced by councillors and friends to 
act against the interest of the state; for he had a weak will, 
which is a serious defect in an absolute monarch. Neither 
alert nor diligent, he proved incapable of attending to details. 
His personality lacked magnetism, as he was shy, retiring, and 
disinclined to mingle with men. At his accession he was not 
even acquainted with the magnificent public buildings or the 
brilliant literary circle of Paris. 

452. Public Finances Fail. — On the whole, however, the 
French nation had confidence in its new king, for he was sin- 
cere in his dream of reform. The ministers he appointed proved 
to be excellent. Tur-got', the controller of finance, preached 
economy to the court : " No more dosing, no more drugging." 
He hoped to build up a sound financial system ; and it is prob- 
able that he alone could have prevented the revolution. Un- 

1 From Arthur Young. 



The Estates General 



399 



fortunately the king's good resolves wavered and he dismissed 
the able minister. From that time the frivolity of the queen 
and her court held full sway. Their extravagance added half 
a billion francs l to the national debt, which continued to swell 
until Louis was amazed to learn that the nation was on the 
verge of bankruptcy. It was impossible to borrow money, 
or to collect heavier taxes 
from a people who had lost 
confidence in the govern- 
ment. 

453. Meeting of the 
Estates General; Destruc- 
tion of the Bastille (1789). 
— This national discontent 
Louis found himself unable 
to avert. Absolute as he 
was supposed to be, he 
finally felt compelled to ask 
the help of his subjects. 
For the first time in more 
than a hundred and fifty 
years they elected their 
members to the Estates 
General, or as it came to 
be styled, the National 
Assembly (1789). Neces- 
sarily its members were 
inexperienced lawmakers. The greater part of their early 
sessions was spent in airing petty jealousies and in settling 
points of order. Soon, however, they were threatened with 
violence by the court party. 

Consequently among the Parisians the spirit of discontent was 
quickly ripening into open revolt. Crowds, mostly of beggars 
and desperate men, began to prowl through the narrow streets 
ransacking gunsmith's shops, bakeries, and taverns. Peace- 
able citizens as well as officials were paralyzed with fear. Gain- 

1 Franc, a coin worth ig.3 cents. 




Queen Mame Antoinette 

In the elaborate costume of ladies of her 
rank in that age. From a painting at 
Versailles. 



400 French Revolution 

ing momentum, the mob set out for the Bas-tille', the prison. 
To them it was the symbol of oppression, for they had heard 
tales of its underground dungeons, into which no fresh air or 
light could enter, of nameless tortures, and of mysterious human 
bones which workmen had found quite by accident. The mob 
finally succeeded in gaining entrance; the Bastille, the very 
bulwark of the old order, was razed to the ground, July 14, 1789. 




The Taking of the Bastille 
Described in the text. 

The event was celebrated throughout Europe. To Frenchmen 
it meant the birth of a new nation, and for this reason they 
have made July 14 their national holiday. Peasants, too, felt 
this new spirit and arose against their oppressors ; they stirred 
up riots, in which churches and castles were burnt. 

454. Abolition of Privileges ; the Constitution ; Church 
Property. — The National Assembly was not slow to feel the 



Reform and Terrorism 401 

pulse of the nation. On the famous night of August 4 noble 
after noble in the spirit of self-sacrifice proposed the abolition 
of his privileges. Rights, of chase, dovecote, tithes, and special 
eligibility to office were abolished. Decree after decree was 
passed for the equalization of penalties, the freedom of em- 
ployment, the abolition of feudal justice, the customs at the 
frontiers of the provinces, guilds, pensions, special privileges of 
towns and provinces, and serfdom. This was the great work 
of the French Revolution. 

During the following year other reforms were adopted. 
There was drawn up a constitution that made France a limited 
monarchy, in which the king remained the chief executive, but 
was powerless without the aid of a popularly elected Assembly. 
In order to be rid of local jealousies and abuses, the old provinces 
were abolished; and the country was divided into "depart- 
ments," each with its own assembly and officials. 

The Assembly then proceeded to confiscate the property of 
the Roman church. Its immense income from feudal dues 
and tithes was henceforth to be turned over to the state. The 
clergy were placed on a salary and were appointed by the state 
— in other words they became servants of the nation. 

455. Invasions and Terror. — It was evident that changes 
so sweeping could not be carried into effect without trouble. 
Within the nation itself the king and many of the nobles looked 
on with increasing anxiety arid fear. Many of the leaders of the 
Revolution became extreme and hysterical, and the mobs in city 
and country broke out in frequent riots. Freedom was carried 
so far that it meant anarchy and disorders of the worst kind. 
In fact it seemed to conservatives that France had gone mad. 

The most anxious observers, however, were the absolute 
monarchs of Europe. It was only natural for them to feel that 
their subjects, too, would seek reform and eventually freedom. 
They hoped accordingly to suppress the revolution in France, 
so as to remove the temptation from their own subjects. At 
length news came to Paris that Prussian and Austrian soldiers 
were about to invade France. The possibility of losing their 
new liberties and the humiliation of being called rebellious 



402 



French Revolution 



children aroused the French to action. Patriots began to 
assemble in Paris, among whom a company from Marseilles 
introduced the wild and stirring song of liberty known ever 
since as the Mar-seil-laise'. The king and the queen, who had 
secretly attempted flight, were imprisoned. 

The actual beginning of war (1792) and the invasion of the 
country destroyed all that was left of self-restraint. The 
rumor spread that the nobles who had remained in France were 
plotting with the invaders. Those who 
were in the prisons of Paris on suspicion 
were taken out and murdered by the 
mob. The king was deposed and a 
republic was declared. In their passion 
the French hurled defiance at the kings 
of Europe, broke treaties, and pro- 
claimed that they would help all peoples 
to free themselves from tyrants. Soon 
they found themselves at war with 
nearly all Europe. At the same time 
they turned savagely to the task of 
ridding France of those whom they sus- 
pected of disloyalty to the republic. 
The king and queen with hundreds of 
others, innocent and guilty, men, women, 
and children, were killed without re- 
morse. This period of pitiless bloodshed is known as " The 
Reign of Terror." It has been remembered with such horror 
that to many the French Revolution means only massacre and 
bloodshed. 

Gradually, however, the French people recovered their sanity. 
Then they began to view with disgust the crimes that had been 
committed in the name of liberty. Those responsible for the 
Reign of Terror were punished, and order was once more re- 
stored (1794). Soon the French armies were fighting with 
enthusiasm for their new freedom, and were more than holding 
their own. This success was due in large measure to the bril- 
liancy of one of their generals, Na-po'le-on Bo'na-parte. 




A Guillotine 

Adopted by the French 
government in 1792 at the 
suggestion of Dr. Guillotin, 
a member of the Assembly, 
and named after him. 



Napoleon 403 

456. Napoleon I and his Conquests. — Napoleon was a 
Corsican by birth, pure Italian in blood but a French subject. 
In youth he was sent to a military school, where he made little 
reputation as a scholar. He was gloomy, disliked games, and 
therefore found himself unpopular among his fellows. Upon 
graduation he received a commission in the artillery. When 
war broke out, he rose rapidly, and soon proved himself the 
ablest general in Europe. Ten years later he was ruler of 
France. 1 From being chief magistrate of the republic, he 
soon became emperor. During that time he had won repeated 
victories. Austria was beaten into submission; Prussia was 
conquered ; and even Russia, after a fierce struggle, gladly made 
peace. 

This success was due in large part to the personality of the 
man. He was a typical Italian, short and swarthy. His 
features some might consider handsome ; his head was large 
and intellectual, and his steel-blue eyes were brilliant and ex- 
pressive. His mental powers were remarkable. He acquired 
a vast and minute knowledge of history, geography, and travel 
in order to understand the conditions of the world in which he 
lived. Other characteristics, his acute perception, his powerful 
imagination, his mastery of details, his machine-like calcula- 
tion of chances, as well as his inspiring rhetoric, were of im- 
mense value in his military career. 

At the same time " he was perhaps the greatest egotist the 
world has ever seen, with the result that he often applied his 
indomitable will and magnificent qualities to very low aims. 
He was given to violent bursts of temper, the occasional out- 
breaks of a nearly superhuman mental energy and of a temper- 
ament easily swayed to passion by personal and selfish consid- 
erations." 2 

Unfortunately for himself and for France, Napoleon was 
never satisfied with his achievements, but always longed for 
still greater glory. His first critical mistake was his insolent 
treatment of such nations as Prussia and Spain. He committed 
another fatal error when he antagonized Russia and Great Britain 

1 1802, sole consul for life; 1804, emperor. 2 Johnston, Napoleon, 5. 



404 



Napoleon 



— nations which otherwise might have been friendly. With 
all his quickness of perception, too, he failed to understand that 
the growth of nationality had rendered impossible an empire 
of the ancient Roman type. Under these circumstances the 




task of holding Europe in subjection by brute strength was 
too great even for a Napoleon, and the fall of the Emperor was 
as rapid as his rise. Defeated and driven to bay, he gave up 
his throne, and retired to the little island of Elba near Corsica. 
.Returning thence for one last attempt to regain his power, he 
summoned his old soldiers to his banner once more, and met 



As a Statesman 405 

crushing defeat at the hands of Wellington and his Prussian 
allies at Waterloo (181 5). Utterly exhausted, France accepted 
— even welcomed — a king again, and Europe was at peace. 

457. The Concordat (1802) ; the Code. — His marvellous 
success, however, was something more than that of a mere 
adventurer or soldier. The French Revolution in a moment of 
frenzy had abolished Christianity. Napoleon, however, be- 
lieved that " no society can exist without morality, and there 
can be no good morality without religion. Religion alone gives 
the state a firm and stable support. A society without religion 
is like a vessel without a compass." The majority of French- 
men were at heart Catholics. For this reason Napoleon came 
to an understanding with the Pope, known as the Concordat. 
This agreement was destined to control relations between the 
church and state in France -for more than a century. It re- 
established the Catholic church as official without preventing 
those of other beliefs from worshipping as they wished. 

It was Napoleon, too, who preserved the influence of the 
Revolution. Under his direction was drawn up the Code 
Napoleon, a single set of laws, brief, clear, and humane, for the 
entire country. Preserving the chief reforms of the Revolu- 
tion, it has remained to this day a working model for legislation 
the world over. 

458. Effects of the Revolution. — It is impossible to condone 
the suffering, the misery, the enormous loss of life that Napo- 
leon brought upon Europe. His only claim to the gratitude 
of posterity lies in the fact that " wherever his influence ex- 
tended, feudal privileges, absolute monarchy, abuses of many 
sorts vanished. In their places there were eventually to come 
political equality and constitutional government. In these 
blessings, enjoyed so generally by western Europe, as well as in 
the right of every man to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happi- 
ness, we must see the results of the bloody years of the French 
Revolution." l 

This era witnessed, too, the birth of political economy. 
Henceforth it has been understood that government finances 
1 Mathews, French Revolution, 285. 



406 Napoleon 

should be conducted on a business basis, admitting of no room 
for injustice or plunder. There was serious agitation, too, for 
compulsory public education, accompanied by an increased 
interest in hospitals, asylums, poor houses, and museums. 
The care of the sick and the destitute was no longer to be 
shouldered upon private philanthropists, but became the 
serious work of the state. 

It was evident that the peasant could not be deprived of the 
land which had been taken from the priests and nobles. In fact 
a pledge was given that the old order would never be restored. 
The peasant was now confident that he would no longer be dis- 
tressed by game laws or the exactions of his landlord. The wise 
policy thus adopted has resulted in a wonderful change in the 
prosperity of country districts. Now many peasants through- 
out Europe own the farms they* till and all are masters of 
their own lives. The majority are patient and frugal. They 
are shrewd, sober, and honest, ever working for the posses- 
sion of more land, for a higher degree of prosperity. The fact 
that they earn more than a living from the burdened soil is evi- 
dence of a remarkable industry and thrift. 

459. Rural France of To-Day. — A glance at the France of 
to-day, for instance, shows what marvellous changes have been 
wrought since the time of Arthur Young. The desert that sad- 
dened Arthur Young's eyes may now be described as a land 
overflowing with milk and honey. The farms are well stocked 
and cultivated, the people are neatly and appropriately dressed, 
and the signs of general contentment and well-being delightful 
to contemplate. In many places the soil is poor, but irrigation, 
fertilization, and improved methods of agriculture have yielded 
good crops. 

We hear of peasants building themselves villas with eight 
rooms : a flower garden, parlor, kitchen, offices, and four airy 
bedrooms. The peasant has stores of homespun linen, home- 
made remedies, oil, vinegar, honey, cider, and wine of his own 
making. As everybody produces crops, nobody pilfers his neigh- 
bors. Universal ownership gives security to property, and 
pauperism is almost unknown. 



Studies 407 

Topics for Reading 

For the whole subject, Hayes, Political and Social History of Modern 
Europe, I, chs. xv, xvi. 

I. Rousseau. — Lowell, Eve of the French Revolution, chs. xviii, xix; 
Belloc, French Revolution, ch. ii. 

II. Equality and Liberty. — Lowell, ch. ix ; Belloc, ch. i. 

III. The Estates General and its Work. — Johnston, French Revo- 
lution, chs. iv-vii; Mathews, French Revolution, 102-81; Anderson, 
Constitutions and Documents, 1-15. 

IV. Reign of Terror. — Johnston, ch. xiii; Mathews, 224-65. 

V. Napoleon at the Height of his Power. — Hayes, I, ch. xvi ; 
Hassall, Life of Napoleon, ch. vii ; Johnston, Napoleon, ch. xi (general 
policy). Cambridge Modern History, IX, ch. xi. 

Review 

1. What conditions of landholding did Arthur Young find in France? 
Describe cooperative farming. What vestiges of feudalism remained? 
Describe the corv£e ; the game laws. 2. Describe the customs duties. 
How were the taxes collected? What was the salt tax? 3. What 
inequalities of rights existed among the social classes? Compare the 
condition of the peasants of France with the condition of those in 
Germany. Why did the former and not the latter revolt? 4. What 
was the condition of the peasants on the estates of absent lords? What 
did the peasants think of absent lords? of the new lords? 5. What 
were the services performed by the church? How had it grown oppres- 
sive? 6. Why was reform in France more difficult than in England? 
Who was Voltaire? On what subjects did he write? What was his 
view of religion? 7. Describe the Encyclopaedists. What did they 
accomplish? 8. Who was Rousseau? In his opinion what was the 
condition of civilized man? What was the remedy? 9. What views 
of the state and of society did his Social Contract set forth? 10. De- 
scribe the growth of political agitation. 1 1 . What was the character of 
Louis XVI? 12. What was the condition of his finances? What 
remedies were attempted, and with what result? 13. Why was the 
estates general called? What was the character of this assembly? 
Describe the destruction of the Bastille. What is the significance of 
this event? 14. What reforms were brought about by the assembly? 
15. What were the causes of the " reign of terror? " Who were re- 
sponsible for it? How did the French come into war with nearly all 
Europe? 16. Who was Napoleon? Give an account of his education ; 
his rise to power. Why did he ultimately fail? 17. What was his 
religious policy? his agreement with the pope? 18. What benefits 
did Napoleon bring to Europe? What were the permanent results of 
the revolution? 19. Describe the country life of present France. 



408 Napoleon 

Additional Studies 

i. Combining the material on the peasants in chs. xvi-xxvi, write a 
history of their condition from the feudal age to the revolution. 2. How 
much of feudalism affecting them had been abolished, and how much 
remained? 3. How are the vexatious customs duties to be traced to 
feudal conditions? 4, Why were the French peasants more intelli- 
gent than those of Germany? 5. What were the abuses in the church 
that tended to undermine belief in religion? How far was Voltaire 
justified in his hostile attitude? 6. What do you think of Rousseau's 
advice to " follow Nature "? Does this mean that we should imitate 
the habits of tigers or of swine? 7. What is the essence of the French 
Revolution? How is it distinguished from the "reign of terror?" 

8. May the achievements of a man be independent of his moral purpose 
and character? Illustrate your opinion by the case of Napoleon. 

9. Compare Napoleon's religious views with those of Voltaire and the 
Encyclopaedists. 10. Write a syllabus of this chapter. 11. Write 
an essay on one of the Reading Topics. 



CHAPTER XXVII 

THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 

About 1 760-1830 

460. Causes. — The preceding chapters have had to do 
with political and religious changes brought about through 
centuries of bloodshed. We are now to consider the Industrial 
Revolution, which, though peaceful, has exercised a vastly 
greater influence than any war on all aspects of civilization. 
It was long delayed because for centuries people had worked 
in a world of habit. In farming, 
for instance, one process followed 
another in monotonous routine: 
there was the ploughing in spring, 
in autumn the reaping, and finally 
the preparation for the next 
ploughing. Such a life roused no 
ambition to strike out new paths 
of thought. 

We have seen, however, that 
the discovery of the New World 
and contact with new peoples 
shook men out of the old grooves 
and that the Renaissance made 
them acquainted with the beauties and learning of ancient 
civilization. At the same time an increased interest in the 
outside world brought about a revival of science and a series 
of inventions which showed people how to do things in new and 
more efficient ways. From that time forward progress was to 
be more rapid. 

There were abundant reasons why the changes which we call 

409 




By the Fireside 

Old-fashioned spinning, 
print. 



From a 



4io 



Industrial Revolution 



the industrial revolution took place in England earlier than 
elsewhere. Fortunately nature had blessed that country with 
broad, navigable streams which made internal communication 
easy, and with an abundance of good harbors essential to ocean 
trade. In addition she possessed valuable natural resources, 
as iron and coal, the chief materials of industry. During the 
eighteenth century, too, England was acquiring a colonial 
domain so gigantic as to dwarf the possessions of every other 
nation. A vast market was now opened to her goods. Pro- 
tected by a powerful navy, 
English ships were nearly 
monopolizing the com- 
merce of the world. 
Manufacturers, however, 
found themselves unable 
to supply the many needs 
of the new empire, for 
their products were still 
slowly made by hand. 

461 . Improvements in 
Spinning and Weaving ; 
the Cotton Gin. — This 
deficiency was felt chiefly 
in the manufacture of 
cloth. Before the eight- 
eenth century the tools 
used were the ancient spinning wheel to make the thread, and 
the equally old handloom to convert the thread into cloth. 
Early in that century, however, John Kay improved this loom 
by devising a means of catching the shuttle at each end of its 
passage (1738). This invention, the fly-shuttle, was a hand 
attached by a string to a handle which the weaver held. 
Although the weaver's task was now physically more difficult, 
he could make wider cloth and treble the output of his loom. 

The next improvement favored the spinners. It happened 
one day that James Hargreaves accidentally upset a spinning 
wheel, which continued to revolve in its new position, with the 




Arkwright's Spinning Jenny 

From Traill, 'Social England' (after specifi- 
cations in the British Patent Office). 



Spinning and Weaving 



411 



(T\ 



thread remaining in the hands of the spinner. This circum- 
stance suggested the idea of using one wheel to revolve a number 
of spindles. This invention — the spinning jenny, named after 
his wife — enabled a person to spin as many threads as there 
were spindles (1767). The output accordingly multiplied, for as 
many as one hundred spindles could be attached to one machine. 

A few years later (1769) Arkwright brought into being the 
" water frame," so called because it was operated by water 
power rather than by hand. It worked fast and combined 
in one operation all the processes necessary for converting 
the raw product into 
yarn. For the first 
time it made possible 
the production of firm 
durable cotton cloth. 
This enterprising man 
travelled through the 
country, seeking sites 
for factories, and cap- 
italists willing to build 
and operate his ma- 
chines and pay him 
royalties for the use of 
them. Thus it was that he alone of this group of inventors prof- 
ited by his genius. In 1 779 Samuel Crompton combined the good 
qualities of the two inventions in one machine, the " mule." It 
produced harder and finer yarn than its predecessors and started 
the manufacture of muslins in England. The power-loom of 
Edmund Cartwright rendered a similar service to weaving (1785). 

It was the inventive genius of an American, Eli Whitney, 
which furnished a rapid way of cleaning the raw cotton. His 
power gin cleaned a thousand pounds of cotton daily far better 
than the handworker could clean six pounds in the same time 
(1793). This machine, too, could utilize all grades of cotton 
and could thus supply the demand for the ever hungry new 
machinery. 1 

1 For its effects on American history see § 495. 




Cartwright's Power Loom 

His looms were first worked by draught-animal 
power, then by water, and finally by steam. From 
Barlow, 'History of Weaving.' 



412 



Industrial Revolution 




462. Water Power and its Effects. — In earlier time when 
the work was done at home, the laborer usually owned his 
tools. The new machines, however, were too expensive for 
the ordinary spinner, and required a power far greater than 
that of the hand. Often therefore men of means purchased 
several " mules," and for the sake of economy placed them 
together in one building — a factory. The favorite site for 
these factories was the bank of a river or 
of a mountain stream where water power 
was available. In these peaceful valleys 
arose bare, hastily constructed mills 
which made no pretence to beauty or 
comfort. No longer could the spinner 
work at home. He was compelled to 
journey far, and seek employment 
wherever there chanced to be a mill. 
Often he was required to serve for a 
number of years, and was treated cruelly 
by his master, as laws had not yet been 
passed for his protection. This was the 
beginning of the factory system; its 
evils and benefits will receive attention 
later (§§ 530-2). 

463. Beginnings of Steam Power ; the 
Safety Valve. — In some respects water 
power proved unsatisfactory. The 
choicest sites were soon occupied, leaving 
the less desirable for late comers. For 
them the supply of water was apt to be none too plenti- 
ful, and in dry seasons very scant. Inventors, however, 
were finding out how to use a newly discovered force — ■ 
steam — for running machinery without pause, year in and 
year out. Although the principle of the steam engine had 
been known to the Greeks (§ 90), its practical value was not 
discovered until modern times. An early experimenter in this 
direction was Dr. Papin (1647-1712), a Huguenot refugee from 
France. In London his work attracted the attention of the 



A Digester 

A small Papin's digester 
used by Watt in experi- 
mentation. He could raise 
a fifteen-pound weight in 
the cylinder by steam, and 
lower it by opening the stop- 
cock at the side. His prob- 
lem was to work the stop- 
cock by machinery rather 
than by hand. From 
Smiles, 'Lives of the 
Engineers.' 



Steam Power 



4*3 



Royal Society, which engaged him to make experiments. 
His most ingenious device was the " Digester." This was a 
covered vessel which retained the vapor of the boiling water 
and thus increased its temperature. In such a vessel he could 
extract nutriment from the bones of animals which formerly 
had to be thrown away as useless. During an experiment 
the digester burst, and Papin discovered the powerful expansive 
force of steam. To avoid the recurrence of this accident, he 
inserted a cork in the cover so 
that when the pressure became 
too great for the safety of the 
boiler, it forced the cork out and 
permitted the steam to escape. 
This rude contrivance was the 
first safety valve, which has 
saved more, lives than any other 
single device. 

464. The Steam Engine. — To 
Thomas Savery belongs the credit 
of having built the first workable 
steam engine. He tells us that 
after drinking a flask of wine at a 
tavern, he threw the empty flask 
on the fire. Then perceiving that 
the little wine left in the flask 
changed to steam, he took the 
vessel by the neck and plunged its 
mouth into the water of the basin. 
When the steam condensed, the 
water was immediately driven up into the flask by the pressure 
of the atmosphere. The engine which he constructed on this 
principle actually worked (1698). Roughly made, however, it 
could not long withstand the tremendous pressure of the steam. 
Its short life therefore made it too expensive for common use. 
Far more practical was the engine of Thomas Newcomen, which 
found an immediate use in the collieries. In this machine a 
piston is moved by the force of steam in a cylinder. 




Newcomen's Engine 

Described in the text. This speci- 
men is in the Hunterian Museum, 
Glasgow. 



414 



Industrial Revolution 



Early in the seventeenth century the English so overcame 
their prejudice against the " unsightly and uncleanly coals " 
as to use them for fuel in separating iron from the ore. It was 
becoming increasingly difficult to obtain coal because miners 
dared not venture far below the surface for fear of being drowned. 
As long as the mines were of no great depth, it was possible to 
bale out the water by hand-buckets. In time, however, the 
upper strata were exhausted and it became necessary to sink 

deeper shafts. Till then there 
had been found no adequate 
means of pumping out the 
water, for wind had proved un- 
reliable ; but now the engine 
of Newcomen filled this need 
( 1 705) . It was indeed far from 
perfect ; it worked slowly and 
with a great waste of power. 
It was not a toy, however, for 
it did its work effectively, when 
operated by a man or even a 
boy. In fact until the last few 
years that type of engine has 
continued to be used for 
pumping. 

While repairing this engine 
James Watt, an instrument- 
maker of Glasgow, discovered 
how to check the waste of 
energy. His partner, Boulton, 
secured skilled workmen, who fitted the parts so closely as 
to reduce friction to a minimum. When the first successful 
machine of the kind was built in 1776 its fame spread like 
wildfire. Watt himself exclaimed, " The velocity, violence, 
magnitude, and horrible noise of the engine give universal 
satisfaction to the beholders." At any rate the Watt ma- 
chines worked with great rapidity; the steam hammer, for 
instance, was capable of striking three hundred blows a 




A Watt Engine 

A single-acting steam engine for 
pumping in the mines. From Smiles, 
' Lives of the Engineers.' 



Various Industries 415 

minute. Manufacturers of every kind of product hastened to 
install these willing workers. Since that time the steam engine 
has come to be more and more the able servant of man; it 
does for him work which an army of strong laborers dare not 
attempt; it works, too, with a precision and accuracy which 
arouses the envy of the most skilled artisan. Furthermore it 
works without a grumble, day or night, at the beck and call of 
man, ready to make one or a million articles according to his 
pleasure. 

465. Various Industries. — We need not dwell long on the 
countless new industries which sprang up on every hand. 
China, earthenware, glass, paper, printing, and cutlery, for 
example, came to .employ thousands of machines and men. 
Even more important for the future of manufacturing were the 
workshops for producing machinery itself. For a long time 
smelting — the separation of metal from the ore — remained 
inferior because charcoal was used in the process. When, 
however, the secret of making coke from coal was discovered, 
a better means of smelting became available, whereby the out- 
put was increased fourfold. Soon afterward it was discovered 
how to make malleable iron x from pig iron. In rapid suc- 
cession great iron works were founded in localities where nature 
had conveniently placed both iron and coal. As the quality of 
iron and of workmanship became better, more efficient tools 
were available for all manufactures; and this circumstance 
proved a great boon to industry. 

466. Improved Waterways, Roads, and Bridges. — As 
people flocked from the country to find employment at the 
new machinery, great cities grew up in the heart of the manu- 
facturing districts (§ 462). All these new centres of population 
and industry required continual supplies of food, and in many 
cases of raw material, from other parts of the country; they 
also sent forth ever-increasing quantities of goods, in some 
cases of great bulk and weight. The time of the self-sufficing 
village had passed, giving place to the manufacturing town 
and the busy seaport, needing to carry on a continual exchange 

1 Iron which under intense heat can be hammered into any desired shape. 



416 



Industrial Revolution 



of commodities at once with the rural districts, with other towns, 
and with foreign countries. 

We may easily understand that the question of distributing 
goods became increasingly serious. During the latter half of 
the eighteenth century, therefore, the government undertook 
the work of dredging rivers and building canals. Along these 
waterways barges heavily laden wound their way. Travel by 
water was popular because it was cheap, though slow. Heavier 
goods, too, such as coal and building materials, could be sent 




~^e 



An Old Method of Transportation 
Preceding the railway. From Smiles, 'Lives of the Engineers.' 



by water more easily than by stage or pack horses. In like 
manner the " sloughs of despond," as the old roads may be 
called, were converted into durable turnpikes under the direc- 
tion of the famous engineer Ma-cad'am. 

An equally skilled engineer, Telford, conceived the idea of a 
suspension bridge. Its construction was fraught with many 
dangers : in the first place it was a huge structure ; a flaw in 
the iron, the slightest fault in the joining of the parts, or in 
any one of a thousand details, might mean disaster. To one 



Transportation by Land 



417 




Telford's Bridge 

Across the Menai Straits, 570 yards in length, with a roadway 100 feet above 

water. From a photograph. 

of the visitors who flocked to view this wonder, it appeared 
that the Menai bridge 1 was more like the work of some great 
magician than the mere result of man's skill and industry. 
Though their undertak- 
ings may seem unimpor- 
tant to us, it was the 
genius of men like Telford 
that has made possible 
such engineering feats as 
the New York Aqueduct 
and the Panama Canal. 
467. Railways. — 
Though distribution by 
road or canal was cheap, 
it was very slow. Prod- 
ucts could not be 
shipped until months 
after their production. 
A new means of trans- 
portation, however, was 
being evolved, which was destined to outstrip all previous 
methods, and to revolutionize civilization itself — the railway 
system. It was George Stephenson who first succeeded in 
1 Built by Telford across the Menai Straits in North Wales. 

2E 




The Rocket 

Stephenson's* first locomotive was built in 
1 814, but it was of little value, as it ran only four 
miles an hour. A considerable advance was 
made in 1823 (see text) and still later he pro- 
duced the 'Rocket,' for which he was given a 
prize. From Smiles, 'Lives of the Engineers.' 



4i8 



Industrial Revolution 



producing a locomotive that would work (1823) . He prophesied 
that his sons would see the day when " railways will supersede 
almost all other methods of conveyance in this country. The 
time is coming when it will be cheaper for a working man 
to travel upon a railway than to walk on foot." 

Canal companies and landowners strongly opposed his pro- 
ject to construct a railway between Manchester and Liverpool 
(completed 1830). Appealing to the public in pamphlets and 




Bridgewater Canal 

As it emerges from Harecastle Tunnel, showing that a mountain was tunneled 
through in the construction of a great waterway, 1785. From Traill, 'Social 
England.' 

newspapers, they declared the railway would " prevent cows 
from grazing and hens "from laying. The poisoned air from 
the locomotives would kill birds as they flew over them. . . . 
There would no longer be any use for horses so that the species 
would become extinguished, and oats and hay be rendered un- 
saleable commodities." In spite of all skepticism, however, 
the engine with its train of queer little cars succeeded so well 
that in a few years England was covered with a network of 
railways which were paying large dividends. With heavier rails 
and better engines a speed of fifty miles an hour was attained. 



Transportation by Water 



419 




The Clermont 
Robert Fulton's steamboat. 



The success of the railroad is shown by the fact that at the 
present time there is hardly a town in civilization which has 
not its railroad to connect it with the rest of the world. Its 
chief claim to suc- 
cess lies in the fact 
that it moves pas- 
sengers and goods 
quickly. In a 
world in which 
" time is money," 
the high railroad 
rates are willingly 
paid, if only a few 
hours are saved. Unfortunately the cheaper but slower travel 
by canals fell quickly into disuse. Only in recent years in fact 
have they begun to be used once more for the shipment of non- 
perishable goods. 

468. Steamboats. — In like manner steam power was ap- 
plied to conveyance by sea. The sailing vessel, which de- 
pended on the fickle winds, had often found it difficult to cross 

the Atlantic or 
even the English 
Channel. The 
world rejoiced 
therefore when an 
American inven- 
tor, Robert Ful- 
ton, placed a 
steamboat on the 
Hudson River, 
with a regular run 
between New 
York and Albany 
(1807). A few 
years later a steamship crossed the Atlantic in twenty-five 
days. This was the forerunner of a regular transatlantic serv- 
ice (1838). 




The Aquitania 

A great Cunard liner equipped with all the conven- 
iences of sea travel. From a photograph supplied by 
the Cunard Steamship Company. 



420 Industrial Revolution 

It is true that steamships were still of wood, and that they 
tended to shake to pieces with the vibrations of the heavy 
engines. It was found, too, that paddles were not suitable 
for rough weather. These defects were remedied by later 
improvements. In fact steamships have made travelling on 
the seas far easier and safer. They are especially valuable for 
passenger traffic, and for carrying perishable freight because 
of their speed and punctuality. From foreign climes, for ex- 
ample, they bring vegetables and fruits, which would spoil on 
sailing ships. Lastly the steamship encourages nations to 
know each other better, by bringing their business men, tourists, 
and colonists into close contact with each other. 

469. Industrial Statistics ; Effects. — The obvious feature 
of the industrial revolution was the vast increase in volume 
of production, which may be most clearly illustrated by figures. 

In 1740 there was no true cotton industry: 

In 1740 importation of cotton amounted to . . 2,000,000 pounds 
In 1789 importation of cotton amounted to . . 33,000,000 pounds 
In 1815 importation of cotton amounted to . . 100,000,000 pounds 
In 1775 yarn cost 42 shillings a pound to spin 
In 1815 yarn cost 8 pence a pound to spin 
In 1786 the selling price of yarn was 38 shillings 
In 1807 the selling price of yarn was 6 shillings 9 pence 
(There were gains in other manufactures) 

In 1740 the total value of exports was £8,000,000 

In 1815 the total value of exports was £58,000,000 

In 1 740 the total value of imports was £6,000,000 

In 1 815 the total value of imports was £32,000,000 

Revenue : 

1740 £4,000,000 

1815 £71,000,000 

Population : 

1740 6,000,000 

1815 10,000,000 

As to the effects of the industrial revolution, we may say that 
it has proved one of the most powerful factors in the political, 
social, and intellectual development of the world from that 
time to the present. The growth of nationality and of imperial- 



Studies 421 

ism, the wonderful inventions of the past hundred years, the 
spread of European civilization over the world, and the tempo- 
rary degradation and gradual improvement in the laborer's 
condition owe a great part of their origin to these changes in 
English industry and their extension to the rest of the civilized 
world. Some of the effects here summarized are traced in the 
remaining chapters. 

Topics for Reading 

I. City Life and Activities. — Allsop, Industrial Revolution, 108-31 ; 
Gibbins, Industrial History of England, chs. xx, xxi; Mackenzie, Nine- 
teenth Century, 71-98; Wood, H. T., Industrial England in the Middle 
of the Eighteenth Century, ch. ii] Ogg, Social Progress in Contemporary 
Europe, ch. vii; Slater, Making of Modern England, chs. ii-iv. 

III. Industries, Factories, and Factory Acts. — Innes, England's 
Industrial Development, ch. xxv; Gibbins, ch. xxiii; Mackenzie, 112, 
116-98; Warner, Landmarks of English Industrial History, ch. xv; 
Taylor, Modern Factory System, see Contents. 

IV. Trade and Trade Combinations. — Allsop, 132-40; Innes, 
chs! xix, xxvii ; Hobson, Evolution of Modern Capitalism, chs. vii-ix. 

V. Trade Union Development. — Innes, ch. xxviii ; Gibbins, 
ch. xxiv ; Commons, Trade Unionism and Labor Problems, see Contents. 

Review 

1. In what way does the industrial revolution differ from the polit- 
ical and religious revolutions of earlier time? What were its causes? 
Why did it begin in England ? 2 . What were the earliest improvements 
in weaving and spinning respectively ? Describe the water frame ; the 
mule; the cotton gin. 3. What was the origin of the factory? How 
was water power applied? What change did the factory system. bring 
about in the life of the workers? 4. Describe the digester ; the earliest 
safety valve. 5. How and by whom was the first steam engine in- 
vented? What improvement did Newcomen introduce? For what 
was it especially used? What contribution did Watt make to the 
development of the engine? 6. Mention and describe some of the 
industries created or stimulated by the growth of steam power. 7. De- 
scribe the process by which the growth of cities brought about im- 
proved means of conveyance and transportation. Mention and 
describe these various means. 8. Explain the origin and growth of the 
railway. What are its advantages ? 9. Give an account of the inven- 
tion and development of the steamboat. For what purposes is the sail- 
boat still used? 



422 Industrial Revolution 



Additional Studies 

i. What was the principal occupation before the industrial revolu- 
tion? 2. How far were the industries developed in Europe before this 
period (gather material from earlier chapters)? 3. Why was there 
so little industry since the third century B.C.? 4. What were the three 
or four leading manufactures that developed during this period? 
5. What did the Greeks know of steam power? To what use did they 
put it (earlier chapter)? 6. Could the digester be called an engine? 
Why is it mentioned here? 7. Examine the illustrations of the various 
machines in this chapter and describe them one by one. 8. What was 
the effect of the industrial revolution on the growth of population? 
9. Were the manufactures before the period sufficient for the people? 
If so, why was there a need for an industrial revolution, and what 
became of the surplus wares? 10. Examine the statistics in § 469, 
and draw whatever inferences you can as to the immediate effects of the 
industrial revolution, n. Write a syllabus of this chapter. 12. Write 
an essay on one of the Reading Topics. 



CHAPTER XXVIII 
GROWTH OF NATIONALITY 

From 1 815 to the Present 1 
I. Liberty and Nationality 

470. An Industrial and a Political Revolution. — The nine- 
teenth century, as stated above (ch. xxvii), is noted for a series 
of inventions which have made every-day life safer, easier, and 
on the whole, happier. At the same time in the political 
sphere radical ideas were taking root. Feudalism had denied 
man social and political freedom, but its last vestiges were 
swept away by the French Revolution. Man has discovered 
that he is master of his destiny, and that he has certain inalien- 
able rights which no power on earth can take from him. So 
universally is this principle admitted, that since the French 
Revolution there has been no serious attempt to restore the old 
restrictions on liberty. 

At the same time for the protection of society as a whole, 
the individual, when dealing with others, must conform to cer- 
tain rules of conduct. The purpose of government is to make 
and enforce such rules. The French condemned tyranny and 
the divine right of kings, and insisted that the people should 
have a share in the government. Naturally rulers by divine 
right opposed this principle, but after a century-long struggle 
it has finally been adopted by every civilized country. The 
" sovereignty of the people," as this idea is called, is in fact the 
foundation of modern politics. "It is now believed that the 

1 Chapters xxviii and xxix contain an unusual number of geographical names; 
but they are names with which every intelligent American should be familiar. 
These chapters should be studied in connection with the maps. 

423 



424 Liberty and Nationality 

government should be directed by the people through their 
representatives, and that it is better for a nation to make mis- 
takes in the course of its self-government than to be ruled, be 
it ever so wisely,. by an irresponsible monarch." l 

471. Nationality. — To us it seems only natural that people 
of the same race should form a nation to control their own 
affairs. Yet this idea has been persistently disregarded. The 
most infamous case was the division of Poland among three 
grasping neighbors (§431). In such cases untold misery and 
suffering have resulted because no allowances were made for 
the character and ambitions of another people. It was France 
which during and after the revolution first proved the might 
of a whole nation acting as a unit. For many years the collec- 
tive French people remained superior to an entire continent 
weighed down by the old idea. She was conquered only when 
her armies were forced to meet the people, rather than the sov- 
ereign, of Germany, of Russia, and of Spain (§ 456). If so 
much could be won by a nation in arms, what wonderful deeds 
might be achieved in times of peace ! However beneficent, 
this idea has gained ground only through hard political struggles 
and through many wars. While the process is not yet com- 
plete, the principle of nationality is universally recognized. 

472. The Congress of Vienna; its Spirit (1815). — After 
Waterloo it was inevitable that the affairs of Europe should 
pass into the hands of the great monarchs who had overthrown 
Napoleon. During the autumn of 1814 accordingly then- 
representatives met at Vienna to bring order out of chaos. 
The Congress of Vienna, as this assemblage is called, was the 
most brilliant Europe had ever known. Here gathered many 
crowned heads as well as the greatest diplomats and statesmen 
of the time. During the period of the meetings there was a 
continual round of social events; representatives of various 
countries vied with each other in the extravagance of their 
receptions and entertainments. 

In the midst of this gayety they entered upon the difficult 
task of reconstructing the map of Europe. They announced 

1 Stephens, Revolutionary Europe, 2. 



Congress of Vienna 425 

to the world the lofty spirit of self-sacrifice with which the 
work was to be done. " Unhappily the monarchs who then 
held the destinies of Europe in their hands did not rise to the 
greatness of their opportunity. It was not a reconstruction 
of Europe which they sat down to accomplish, with a wise 
regard to the wants of the European people. They met to 
satisfy the demands of a horde of bereaved princes. They met 
in the spirit of a supreme regard to personal interests. Their 
avowed object was to restore to Europe as nearly as possible the 
political arrangements which existed before the war. They took 
no account of the vast changes which the war had caused. They 
were blind to the new impulses which had risen to unsuspected 
strength, and were henceforth to shape the destinies of Europe." 1 

473. .The Congress of Vienna; its Work. — The Congress of 
Vienna therefore resolved itself into a scramble for territorial 
spoils. France was reduced to her boundaries of 1792 — a 
mild punishment for the unscrupulous aggressions of Napoleon. 
Russia, Prussia, and Austria received large grants of territory, 
while England's claim to her already great colonial empire was 
officially recognized. In its dealings with the smaller coun- 
tries this congress utterly ignored the principle of nationality. 
The Spanish Netherlands (Belgium) were joined with Holland, 
and Norway was united with Sweden. It made little difference 
that the people of such unions had no common bond of language, 
customs, and religion. Then, too, Italy was again cut into 
fragments, which were placed. under their former rulers; and 
in consequence her hope of unity was long deferred. 

In as arbitrary a manner the congress firmly condemned the 
principles of the French revolution. To the rulers of the time 
constitutions and civil and religious liberty meant only the 
guillotine, bloodshed, and terrorism. They felt it a duty to 
themselves to prevent the spread of these new ideas. The 
leader of this reactionary movement was Prince Met'ter-nich 
of Austria. His graceful bearing, well-molded features and 
figure, his charming tone of voice, his ability to act, and his 
commanding personality made his diplomatic career a marked 

1 Mackenzie, Nineteenth Century, 68. 



426 Liberty and Nationality 

success. His love of self may be compared with that of Napo- 
leon. " He speaks of himself as being born to prop up the 
decaying structure of European society. He feels the world 
resting upon his shoulders. Through his foresight and diplo- 
matic cleverness, moreover, he came to be regarded as the great 
oracle of Europe, whose every word even diplomats and kings 
considered full of meaning." 1 

474. New Revolutions. — As may be imagined, people who 
had once tasted freedom and enlightened laws did not welcome 
a return to the old order. Those accordingly who were dis- 
satisfied with existing conditions revolted against their oppres- 
sors. The absolute monarchies, Russia, Prussia, and Austria, 
under the leadership of Prince Metternich claimed a right to put 
down either at home or abroad any change of government which 
threatened the " interests of Europe." Thus joining hands, 
they quelled the revolutionary spirit in both Italy and Spain. 
At home, too, they maintained order by a rigorous police and spy 
system. By such methods the growth of nationality and of 
constitutional freedom was momentarily checked (181 5-1 848). 

Meantime the Spanish colonies in South America revolted 
against the mother country and declared their independence 
(§ 301 ff). On this occasion Metternich proposed to send over 
an armed force to restore their allegiance. This step England 
vigorously opposed. The United States, too, gave notice that 
no attempt of a European power to interfere with the affairs 
of the western hemisphere would be tolerated. 2 In the same 
period Great Britain and France encouraged Belgium to a suc- 
cessful revolt against Holland (1830). Through their influence 
the great powers recognized the independence of this little state 
and guaranteed its neutrality. 

II. Unification of Italy and Germany 

475. Unification of Northern Italy. — During the first half 
of the nineteenth century the spirit of a united Italy was kept 
alive by secret societies known as Carbonari — "charcoal 

1 Hazen, Europe since 1815, p. 21. 

2 This is the famous Monroe Doctrine explained in § 529. 



CENTRAL 

AND 

WESTERN EUROPE 

About 1900 




Longitude AVest Longitude 



Greenwich 20 



New Italy 427 

burners." Hot-headed, emotional, and too impatient to await 
the opportune moment, they tjroke out into frequent revolts, 
only to be crushed under the iron heel of Austria. 

Gradually it became evident that success depended on a 
united effort, which required discipline. For their leader 
Italians began to look hopefully to Sardinia, one of their little 
kingdoms. It consisted of the island of that name and in 
addition Pied'mont in northwestern Italy. This state was now 
enjoying a constitution with a parliament and a responsible 
ministry. These democratic institutions had largely been 
obtained through the efforts of Ca-vour', its great statesman. 
He was a diplomat of the old school, blessed with wit, intelli- 
gence, and winning manners. •" The women found his light 
hair, blue eyes, and happy temper charming; the men of the 
time valued his keen insight into questions of current interest." x 
Together with the king, Victor Emmanuel, he had made Sar- 
dinia a model state, a pattern for the rest of Italy. 

The story of the welding together of the Italian nation is as 
thrilling as a romance. Cavour proved himself the wizard of 
diplomacy. Daring to ally his little country with powerful 
England and France, he furnished aid in their struggle with 
Russia (§ 482). Here the Sardinian soldiers distinguished 
themselves on the firing line ; and when the terms of peace 
were made (1856), their country won a place in the councils of 
Europe. At the first opportunity Cavour convinced his new 
friends of the wrongs which Italy had suffered from Austria. 
As it had already been shown to their satisfaction that Sardinia 
could live under a liberal constitution and that her soldiers 
could fight, England and France gave the little state their sym- 
pathy and granted aid in a war with Austria. The victory of 
the allies was decisive and resulted in the unification of northern 
Italy with the exception of Venice (i860). 

476. Union of Italy, Sicily, and Sardinia. — It was the 
patriot Gar-i-bal'di who liberated the South. His career reads 
like the pages of a novel, for in his blood was the spirit of ad- 
venture. For a time he lived the life of a roving sailor. While 

1 Holland, Builders of United Italy, 171. 



428 Unification of Italy 

still a young man he became imbued with the spirit of a new 
Italy, and took part in several • insurrections. Arrested and 
condemned to death, he escaped to South America, where he 
took a prominent part in the many wars for independence. In 
these turbulent years he gained valuable experience in rough, 
irregular fighting. It was in a small town of Brazil that Gari- 
baldi met the woman who at first sight so charmed him that he 
immediately wooed her and won her for his wife. Anita fol- 
lowed • him through all his adventures on land and sea and 
showed throughout a devotion and courage unequalled by any 
of his soldiers. 

Upon his return to Italy he raised a volunteer army of a 
thousand men — called " redshirts " from the garb they had 
adopted — and set sail for Sicily. This island he won for his 
king and country. When he crossed from there to the main- 
land, the Neapolitans welcomed with open arms the man who 
they thought was bringing about the millennium. Thus rapidly, 
through its own inherent weakness and corruption, despotic 
rule in Italy collapsed. 

In 1866 an alliance was concluded with Prussia, then at war 
with Austria (§ 479). Garibaldi took command of 'the volun- 
teer forces and the campaign started with the old enthusiasm. 
Whereas at present war is mainly a question of the biggest guns, 
in those days it was tinged with the romance of personal heroism. 
Thus it was with Garibaldi's veterans. Their informal style of 
marching attracted this comment from an eye-witness : " Some 
of them were lying at full length on bullock wagons, with their 
rifles decorated with roses at their sides, others were trudging 
sturdily along in their loosest manner, smoking, with their red 
shirts open, and their rugs rolled across their bodies." 1 But 
when they came to battle, it was hard to withstand their 
terrific onslaught. The allied forces were victorious and Italy 
received Venice as a reward for her services. In the autumn 
of 1870 the Italian forces entered Rome, and the dream of a 
united Italy was realized. This success was in large measure 
due to the brain of Cavour and the sword of Garibaldi. 
1 Holland, Builders of United Italy, 162. 



Prussia 429 

477. Germany after the Congress of Vienna. — The story of 
the making of modern Germany is scarcely less romantic. The 
Congress of Vienna had provided for a German Confederation, 
which was in reality not German, for it included people of other 
races and languages. Nor was it a union of different peoples, 
but of their rulers. These petty princes were allowed little 
opportunity to determine the policies of the confederation, 
but were cowed into submission by the military power of 
Austria. 

Meanwhile the agitation for a national German state was 
carried on by university students who drank to the freedom of 
their land and to its patriots from Luther down. Their pro- 
gressive spirit alarmed such champions of the old order as 
Metternich. Newspapers and institutions of learning therefore 
were forbidden to criticise existing customs. Excluded from 
political affairs, professors and students began to make re- 
markable conquests in the fields of science. Their efforts raised 
the standard of scholarship and made them the world's leaders 
in many branches of learning. 

478. Prussia and the Industrial Revolution. — In time it 
became evident, that Prussia was to render the same service to 
Germany that Sardinia had performed for Italy. In this work 
she used every effort to further the progress of the industrial 
revolution, then in its infancy. For the first time capital was 
made available for founding new industries. The great natural 
resources of the country, too, were exploited on a large scale. 
With a plentiful supply of coal and iron, factories sprang up on 
all sides. Alfred Krupp made the steel foundry, established by 
his father in 1810, the most famous of its kind in the world. 
Attracted by the hope of high wages, workmen rushed to the 
cities. The German qualities of patience, order, and obedience 
to authority contributed to the establishment of business rela- 
tions over the entire world. Hence it came about that the 
first step toward union was along economic lines. In northern 
Germany alone there were more than seventy different tariff 
systems separating one district from another. Naturally mer- 
chants strongly objected to these restrictions, which hampered 



43° Unification of Germany 

commerce, and made markets uncertain. In order to live, 
many had to resort to smuggling, which alone was profitable. 

Abolishing these evils, Prussia established free trade within 
her boundaries. Next she drew the neighboring states into a 
customs union (Zollverein) which brought about a rapid growth 
of industry. The states of northern Germany were now united 
for economic objects, though not as yet politically. In this 
union they learned the advantages of cooperation and of Prus- 
sian leadership ; and they came to understand that they could 
live much better thus than when politically bound to Austria. 

479. Prussian Militarism and the Unification of Germany. 
— King William I from the moment of his accession (1861) 
turned his attention to military affairs. He was a thorough 
soldier who readily convinced himself that the future of Prussia 
depended upon the creation of a well-trained and well-equipped 
army. His whole energy therefore he directed to bringing 
about this result. In accomplishing this task he introduced 
compulsory military training ; and to this day every able- 
bodied German citizen must serve a fixed period of years in 
the army. Another act of William, scarcely second in impor- 
tance, was to make Bismarck his chief adviser. In his younger 
days a robust and boisterous country squire, this man had 
entered politics and had schooled himself in the workings of 
government. He had filled, too, several diplomatic posts where 
he gained a thorough knowledge of international affairs. 

With the marvellous Prussian military machine at his back, 
Bismarck determined on a policy of compulsion to bring about 
German unity. His plan was to force quarrels upon those who 
stood in the way of this object. To many his methods seemed 
unscrupulous, but Bismarck felt that they were directed to a 
worthy cause. At all events the policy of " blood and iron " 
was highly successful. Thoroughly beaten in war, Austria was 
completely eliminated from the German political system (1866). 
In the following year all the northern states were organized in a 
federal union, which Prussia dominated. 

In fact it was the rapidly increasing power of Prussia which 
aroused the fear and jealousy of the south German states. For 



The Franco-Prussian War 431 

this reason they held aloof from the new union. Bismarck, 
however, foresaw that all the states would unite in a single 
nation in case of danger from a common enemy. He found 
it convenient accordingly to pick a quarrel with his neighbor 
across the Rhine. It required little provocation to bring 
about a war, for both peoples were eager to fight. The result 
of the war — Franco-Prussian, 1870 — was an overwhelm- 
ing victory for the Germans. France, absolutely crushed, was 
forced to pay the enormous indemnity of one billion dollars, 
and to cede to her conquerors the valuable provinces, Al-sace' 
and Lor-raine'. 

As expected, the southern German states joined the union 
and the king of Prussia was proclaimed Kaiser (emperor) of a 
united Germany. 

III. The Balkan States 

480. Turkey about 1800. — A century ago the Turkish em- 
pire extended over a vast area : in Asia it embraced Asia Minor, 
Syria, and Arabia ; in Africa, practically the entire northern coast 
except Morocco. In Europe itself Turkey was a great power ; 
for she was sovereign of the entire Balkan peninsula. It was 
an Oriental state, ruled by a sultan who had power of life and 
death over his subjects. At times, however, his liberty and 
very existence were threatened by his undisciplined and turbu- 
lent army. The finances were in a wretched condition. There 
was no system of bookkeeping or budget ; and the sultan and 
his friends removed funds from the treasury at their pleasure. 
To pay for their extravagance, taxes, farmed out to rapacious 
officials, oppressed the people. 

The sultan's European subjects were an odd mixture of 
various stocks : Roumanians, who claimed descent from the 
ancient Romans, Greeks, Albanians, and many members of the 
great Slavic race. For centuries they paid their tolls to the 
greedy Turkish tax-collectors. In return for this money they 
were granted certain liberties including the free exercise of their 
religion, and in some cases their local magistrates, laws, and 



432 Balkan States 

customs. The fact that they were Christians, however, de- 
prived them of every political right and placed them in an in- 
ferior social position. The ruling class, which was Mohamme- 
dan, would not admit infidels to a share in the privileges it en- 
joyed. Instead it treated them with contempt and oppressed 
them on every hand. 

481. Greece Wins her Independence. — Under these cir- 
cumstances no one could expect the Christians to remain faithful 
subjects. In their hearts lurked the hope of liberty. They 
were convinced that the rule of the foreign tyrant was doomed 
and that soon they should be permitted to govern themselves. 
The Greeks were the first to rise successfully against their 
oppressors. Early in the nineteenth century their wealthy mer- 
chants began the custom of sending their sons to study abroad, 
so that they could found schools at home. At the same time 
Greek scholars reformed the spoken language, which had been 
corrupted in various ways. Hence it became possible for all 
Greeks to read their ancient classics. When they came to 
understand the part their race had once played in the world's 
affairs, it awakened the national spirit — the desire to create a 
modern Hellas. 

The revolt, breaking out in 182 1, was a war of extermination, 
in which both sides perpetrated massacres. Often women and 
children were butchered in cold blood. For a time, however, 
the Turks were everywhere triumphant. Fortunately culti- 
vated people throughout the world sympathized with the coun- 
try from which they had drawn a great part of their intellectual 
life, and with its heroic struggle for liberty. Throughout the 
western world societies sent money, soldiers, arms, and cloth- 
ing ; but it is chiefly to the cooperation of the great powers of 
Europe 1 that Greece owes her political freedom. In 1829 they 
recognized the independence of this new state, and the bloody 
struggle with Turkey was ended. 

482. Russia and the Turkish Question. — People now began 
to call the sultan the " sick man of Europe " and to prophesy 
the speedy collapse of his empire. Russia saw her opportunity 

1 Great Britain, France, and Russia. 



Liberation from Turkey 



433 



to seize a share of the spoils, which would include a large part 
of Asia Minor and the much needed seaport, Constantinople. 
The rest of Europe, however, strenuously objected to this dan- 
gerous increase of Russian power in the Mediterranean. There 
ensued a short but bloody struggle, known as the Crimean war 
(i 854-1 856), in which Russia was badly worsted by England, 
France, and Sardinia. 

Since that time Europe has been troubled by the question as 
to what should be done with Turkey. At the Congress of Paris 
(1856), where representatives of all the great powers met, it 



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was decided to keep that country intact. In return the sultan 
promised to bring about certain reforms. Christians were to 
be freed from burdensome taxes and were to have representa- 
tives in the councils of the empire. 

483. The New Balkan States. — These reforms were never 
carried out in good faith. In fact conditions became unbear- 
able ; Turkish troops were turned loose upon defenceless villages 
of Bulgarian peasants, where they massacred thousands. The 
Bulgarian atrocities (1876) Europe indignantly proclaimed an 
" affront to the laws of God." No longer did she dare defend 



434 The New World 

the Turkish empire. The Congress of Berlin (1878) deter- 
mined to reduce the hold of the Turk on Europe to narrow 
limits. As a result of this policy several independent states 
have been created: Roumania and Serbia (1878), Montenegro 
(1878), and Bulgaria (1908). There remain of European Turkey 
part of Macedonia and the district about Constantinople. The 
fate of this territory has not yet been decided. 

By the help of the great powers therefore the Balkan states 
have achieved independence. It was hoped that they might 
unite to protect themselves from foreign enemies ; but in fact 
each state has attempted to extend its " empire " at the expense 
of neighbors. These conflicting desires have made the penin- 
sula a scene of continual intrigue and bloodshed. While they 
were in this weak condition, Austria formally annexed two prov- 
inces intrusted to her care (Bosnia and Her-ze-go-vi'na, 1908). 
Her next ambition was to control Serbia. This aggressive 
policy, which threatened to swallow up the little Balkan states, 
aroused the ire of Great Britain, France, and Russia, and was 
the most obvious cause of the great war beginning in 19 14. 

IV. The New World 

484. Independence of Latin America. — The entire western 
hemisphere south of the Rio Grande may be designated as 
Latin America. It was settled in the sixteenth century by 
Spaniards and Portuguese, who intermarried extensively with 
the natives. Until the beginning of the last century they were 
ruled despotically by the mother countries, which granted them 
no share in the government. The flame of liberty, however, 
kindled by the French Revolution, spread rapidly over Central 
and South America till every colony had declared its inde- 
pendence (1821). Distracted by internal troubles, Spain found 
herself unable to check these revolts, whereas England and the 
United States joined in preventing the armies of other nations 
from landing on the shores of America. 

For these reasons the colonies were left free to work out their 
own destiny. After achieving independence they organized 



Latin America 435 

republics similar. to the United States. Brazil was a monarchy 
till 1889, an d afterward a republic. With the exception of that 
state, those countries have passed through long periods of revo- 
lution, civil war, and disorder. Conspiracies and assassinations 
have often marred their public life. The long dictatorships 
like that of Diaz in Mexico (1877-1911) are in fact tyrannies; 
but they have often proved useful in checking anarchy and in 
establishing law and order. During the last twenty-five years 
Argentina and Chile have enjoyed a stable government and 
have made wonderful progress. 

485. Population and Politics of Latin America. — To under- 
stand this chaos in government we must keep in mind the 
nature of the population. The pure whites are comparatively 
few. The great mixed race — the mestizos x — a blend of Euro- 
pean colonists with the native Indians, form the bulk of the 
population. The remainder are Indians and negroes. None 
of them had any experience in government before the wars of 
independence. The vast majority were totally ignorant, and 
understood fighting and looting better than voting. Political 
knowledge they have gained through a century of ruthless 
bloodshed. At the same time we must remember, for example, 
that the French needed almost a hundred years of experimen- 
tation before they finally established a stable and progressive 
republic. In like manner the Latin American states seem 
gradually emerging from chaos into firm, well-ordered common- 
wealths. 

Democracy, however, has made little headway. The bulk 
of the population, which is totally ignorant, has no share in 
making laws. The functions of government are exercised by 
the whites and the better class of mestizos. Theoretically they 

1 Mestizos, a Spanish word meaning "mixed." It is difficult to estimate the exact 
proportion of races. In Brazil, a nation of 20,000,000 inhabitants, 40 per cent are 
white, 30 per cent are mestizos, 20 per cent are negroes, and the remainder Indians. 
In the next largest state, Mexico, the whites number 15 per cent, the mestizos 
50 per cent, and the Indians 35 per cent. Indians form the bulk of the inhabitants 
of the states along the western coast, whereas in Argentina the tide of European 
immigration tends to make the white race predominate. The people of Central 
America are a varying mixture of whites, Indians, and Africans. Enock, Republics 
of Central and South America, 17. 



436 



The New World 



are firm believers in the rights of man, in liberty, and equality ; 
but in practice these words are used by demagogues merely for 
catching votes. When a new man comes to the presidency or 
the dictatorship, people believe that the millennium is at hand, 
but they soon find the old political corruption at work in their 
midst to enrich office-holders at the expense of the community. 

486. Character of Latin Americans. — Latin Americans are 
idealists. Highly imaginative, they are easily moved by senti- 
ment and feelings of love or hate. They take great pride in 
their refinement, courtesy, and hospitality. In outward form 
at least, they are a race of gentlemen. This spirit is reflected 

even in the conduct 
of the poorest, who 
are polite and neigh- 
borly to those about 
them. 

The women have 
earned a reputation 
for beauty as well as 
for intelligence. 
Those of the upper 
class are refined in 
manner and speech, 
those of the lower 
class modest and respectful. With a deep love of home and 
family life, they give their chief attention to the care of chil- 
dren and household duties. As a result they have taken little 
part in the affairs of the world about them. Doubtless in time 
they will imitate their sisters in other parts of the world who 
are exerting themselves to improve social and political conditions. 

487. Rural Economy ; the Peons. — In economic matters 
Latin America has lagged behind the rest of the civilized world. 
This condition is due in large part to the restrictions which 
Spain had placed upon her colonies (§ 304 ff). The climate, 
too, is unfavorable to the average European. His wagons can- 
not traverse the forests, dense jungles, or lofty mountain ranges ; 
nor is it safe or profitable for him to work under the sweltering 




A Peon Ploughing 
From Baerlein, 'Mexico.' 



Economy and Resources 437 

tropical sun or in the rarified air of mountain districts. These 
conditions therefore have developed a servile class of workmen, 
who for centuries have performed difficult and dangerous toil 
in the mines of Chile, Mexico, and Peru. Laborers for hire, 
comprising Indians and mestizos, are termed peons. The ma- 
jority of them industriously till the fields from early morning to 
late at night. 

In a country where there should be a farm for every peasant 
these uneducated but hard-working people own almost nothing 
of the soil they till. Their diet, consisting of beans, corn, rice, 
and peppers, is meagre and their clothing insufficient. In time 
of peace they are mere beasts of burden to earn money for the 
wealthy ; in war-time they are food for cannon. The continued 
ill-treatment of natives in Latin America is notorious, for bar- 
barities did not cease when Spain lost control. The result is a 
heavy death-rate and a rapid destruction of the working popu- 
lation, which cannot be replaced by Europeans. For the sake 
of economy, therefore, if not for humanity, labor conditions call 
for immediate reform. 

488. Natural Resources and Industries. — The country has 
great natural resources. In almost every state, from Mexico to 
Argentina, all the necessaries of life lie ready at hand. Wheat 
and meat, fuel and stimulants, clothing and building material, 
metals for industries, and gold and silver for currency require 
only to be taken from the hills and fields. Although one would 
expect so rich a continent to produce populous industrial 
centres, the fact is that the industrial revolution did not find 
its way into South America till late in the nineteenth century ; 
and since that time it has made slow progress. Wealthy natives 
possessed no mechanical genius for transforming raw ore into 
machinery and railways. They lacked, too, the necessary fore- 
sight and could not rid themselves of the idea that a dollar 
invested without immediate return was lost. The building of 
railways and the opening of banks and mines therefore have 
been left to the initiative of the foreign capitalist. Quick to 
see the vast profits which accrue from developing the resources 
of a new continent, moneyed classes of all countries have 



438 The New World 

hastened to contribute both men and capital toward this work. 
Great Britain alone has invested five billion dollars in Latin 
America. 

489. The Needs of Latin America. — In return for their 
work in " building up the country," foreign capitalists have 
been given thousands of acres of land, or have been allowed 
to purchase mines and oil wells at nominal prices. This free 
delivery of valuable national assets should be checked before 
the foreigner has monopolized all the natural resources; nor 
should the foreign capitalist be permitted to exploit the working 
classes, to introduce the slums, and the war between capital 
and labor. 1 It is noteworthy, too, that most of the people are 
farmers, who could not without great hardship exchange the 
freedom of outdoor life for the confinement of the city; and 
even the condition of the oppressed peons is preferable to that 
of the sweat shops of New York or London. 

The future of Latin America depends solely upon the wisdom 
of the ruling class. Their greatest task is to improve the con- 
dition of the laborers. Better than the building of large cities 
would be a system of compulsory education for freeing them 
from ignorance. Valuable assistance could be rendered them 
in building good roads, in irrigation and drainage, and in show- 
ing them better ways of tilling the soil. They can be taught 
to make at home enough to supply their simple needs. At the 
same time under this constructive program there is still a vast 
number of opportunities for foreign capital to operate under 
legitimate restrictions. 

490. The United States and the Articles of Confederation. — 
In a general way the forces at work in the United States which 
brought about present conditions, were those of contemporary 
Europe : unification and nationalism, the industrial revolution, 
the growth of democracy, expansion, and imperialism- The 
environment of these changes, however, is different in many 

1 The more powerful and progressive states have systematically encouraged their 
citizens to engage thus in business in weaker and less progressive countries, and then 
on the pretence of protecting these citizens in time of revolution, have often resorted 
to intervention and conquest. This policy, known to us as "dollar diplomacy," has 
prevailed since the world began, but is not morally justifiable. 



The United States 



439 



particulars from that of the Old World, and the problems aris- 
ing from them are all peculiar to the Western Hemisphere. 

In another chapter (xxiv, § 413 ff.) we reviewed the struggle 
by which the thirteen English colonies won the right to control 
their own destinies. This conflict was directed by the Conti- 
nental Congress — a group of patriots, who unselfishly devoted 
their energies to the liberation of their country. Toward the 
close of the war (1781) the colonies one by one adopted the 
Articles of Confederation, which Benjamin Franklin had drafted. 
In this way the states were united in what 
was intended to be a " firm league of 
friendship." 

As soon, however, as the danger of a 
common foe had been removed, the Con- 
federation showed many signs of weakness. 
In the first place the states were jealous of 
one another. They taxed heavily the 
goods of neighbors which passed through 
their own territory and treated as aliens 
residents from other states. These condi- 
tions were made worse by the war. At 
its close business was almost stagnant. A 
flood of paper money, known as Continental, 
depreciated the currency ; to this day " not worth a Conti- 
nental " remains a proverb. The want and suffering of the 
people were intense. Civil war became an imminent danger. 

In the midst of these difficulties Congress attempted to per- 
form the duties granted it by the Articles, but failed largely 
through inability to collect money for the expenses of govern- 
ment. It could only ask the states for contributions. They 
gave but little, however, for each was jealous of any power out- 
side its own boundaries. Lacking support, the central govern- 
ment failed to win the respect of foreign nations, and found it 
impossible to enforce treaties. This weakness was keenly felt 
by the northern states, whose people depended mainly on com- 
merce for a livelihood. 

491. The Making of the Constitution. — As difficulties at 




A Continental 

Considerably reduced 
in size. Described in 
the text. 



44-0 The New World 

home and abroad increased, every one began to see the need of a 
strong national government. To bring about this object a 
group of merchants, manufacturers, bankers, and planters met 
at Independence Hall, Philadelphia, May, 1787. This splendid 
array of talent included such men as Washington, Hamilton, 
Jay, Madison, and Patrick Henry. From the outset the assem- 
bly was divided into two factions : those who favored a strong 
central government at the expense of the states, and those 
who wished to retain sovereign rights for the states, leaving as 
little power as possible in the hands of the national government. 
How these wise and able men finally reached a compromise 
and drew up a constitution forms an interesting chapter in 
political history. The Constitution went into effect in 1789. 

492. Westward Expansion of the United States. — The most 
remarkable feature of American history has been the rapid 
growth in size, the acquisition and colonization of a territory 
nearly as large as Europe. The original thirteen states formed 
a narrow strip of land between the Atlantic Ocean and the 
Ap-pa-lach'i-an Mountains. In addition several states pos- 
sessed sparsely settled areas extending westward to the Mis- 
sissippi. This territory they generously ceded to the Confedera- 
tion (1780), which proceeded to organize it into new states. 
After the cession of Florida by Spain (1821) the United States 
included all North America east of the Mississippi and south 
of the Great Lakes. 

During this period our lands in the Mississippi basin proved 
of little value, for at the mouth of that river New Orleans, 
belonging to France, closed it to our commerce. By a fortunate 
stroke of diplomacy President Jefferson was able to purchase 
from Napoleon for $15,000,000 not only New Orleans, but the 
entire region then known as Louisiana (1803). This acquisition 
doubled the area of the United States and proved to be one of 
the most valuable tracts of land in the world. From this huge 
area fourteen states have been created. In 1845 the Republic 
of Texas was annexed to the United States; and California 
and New Mexico were acquired by conquest three years after- 
ward. When our title to the Oregon country was secured 



Westward Expansion 441 

(1846), the territory of the United States practically reached 
its present limits. 1 The work of expansion was accomplished 
through the wise forethought of statesmen, through wars of 
aggression, and through sheer good fortune. 

493. Colonization of the West. — Meanwhile Americans 
were devoting a large share of their energy to the task of coloniz- 
ing their new acquisitions. The advance guard of hunters, 
fishermen, trappers, and scouts acted as explorers and made 
known to their friends at home the vast opportunities which 
awaited them in the new lands. 

An Eastern family of small means, eager to improve its con- 
dition, would pack up its belongings, and venture into the 
wilderness. A covered wagon, humorously named prairie 
schooner or ship of the desert, drawn by oxen or horses, carried 
the baggage and the women of the household. Other members 
of the family took turns driving the herd which they brought 
with them. In this way they would journey a few miles a day. 
When they reached an attractive spot, they unpacked their 
goods, hastily constructed a rude shelter, and prepared to till 
the soil. Often groups of these pioneers found it convenient 
to band together for defence against the dangers of the wilds ; 
the Indians, the savage beasts, or the forest fires. At the same 
time they good-naturedly furnished each other aid in building 
homes and in ploughing or reaping. In the same spirit they 
often joined for mutual helpfulness and social intercourse in 
husking or logging " bees." In such pioneer communities 
there was no question of rank ; any man who could handle an 
axe or guide a plough was the equal of his neighbor. There 
was little need of political organization ; justice was summary, 
and wrongdoers were severely punished. 

As the lands nearer home became thickly settled, the more 
enterprising continued to move onward, and the never-ending 
procession of prairie schooners advanced westward to conquer 
the unknown forest and prairie. Emigration was hastened by 
the construction of railways. The discovery of gold in Cali- 
fornia lured adventurous thousands to that far-off region. A 

1 Alaska was acquired in 1867. The oversea acquisitions are mentioned in § S2Q. 



442 



The New World 



few became fabulously wealthy, while many failed utterly. 
The majority, however, who came filled with money-lust, re- 
mained in the wonderland they found there. 

494. The War of 1812 : Decline of our Merchant Marine. — 
While still in its infancy the United States became embroiled 
in the bitter struggle between Napoleon and England. Each 
belligerent forbade the carrying on of neutral trade with the 

other. The swift, well- 
manned ships of the United 
States had built up an 
immense foreign trade, 
which suffered especially, 
for both belligerents felt 
themselves free to prey 
upon American commerce. 
The greater provocation 
came from the British, who 
directed the captains of 
their cruisers to stop and 
search American vessels, 
and to remove those whom 
they considered deserters. 
Such persons, many of 
whom were Americans, 
they impressed into service 
in the British navy. This 
unfortunate state of affairs 
led to war (181 2), in which 
our land forces for a time 
suffered ignominious de- 
feat, but in the end gained a brilliant victory. Meanwhile our 
few warships scoured the seas individually or in small squadrons, 
boldly encountering superior forces of the enemy and almost 
always winning the mastery. The Treaty of Ghent (Christmas 
Eve, 1 814) closed the war. 

The war thus closed marked an important epoch in American 
business. It was the beginning of the decline of our merchant 




The Constitution 

Nicknamed Old Ironsides, the most cele- 
brated ship in the history of the American 
navy. A frigate of 1576 tons capacity and 
carrying 44 guns, she was built in Boston 
harbor and launched in 1797. For a third of 
a century she was in active service, and was 
in her time perhaps the best warship afloat. 



Commerce, Industry, and Slavery 



443 



marine, for the carrying trade of the world was now passing 
into British hands. At the same time we discovered that it 
was no longer necessary to depend on British manufacturers. 
Even at this early date every effort was made to encourage 
home industry; societies were formed for this purpose, pre- 
miums were paid, and tax exemptions granted. At the same 
time the government aided home manufacturers by charging 
high duties on imported products. Under these favorable con- 
ditions industries nec- 
essarily flourished. 

495. Growth of 
Slavery. — The 
United States now 
had to face the most 
difficult problem of 
its entire history — 
the question of slav- 
ery. This evil was a 
heritage of colonial 
days, when shiploads 
of negroes had been 
brought from the jun- 
gles of Africa. The 
majority became the 
property of Southern 
plantation owners, 




The Cotton Gin 
One form of it in operation. From a print. 



who found that under the hot sun they could work better 
than white men. In the North they were unprofitable and 
soon disappeared. Even in the South some slaveholders, 
such as Washington and Jefferson, considered it wrong to keep 
fellow-creatures in bondage, while others permitted slaves to 
purchase their freedom. The Constitution, however, allowed 
the institution to continue despite the fundamental principle 
of our government that " all men are created equal." No more 
slaves, however, were to be imported after 1808, and statesmen 
felt that the problem would be settled by the gradual dying out 
of negro families. 



444 The New World 

The entire situation was revolutionized through the invention 
of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney (1794 ; § 461). This machine 
made the production of cotton very profitable, and established 
the institution of slavery more firmly than ever in the South. 
In thirty years — 1 790-1820 — the number of slaves increased 
from 700,000 to 1,500,000. During that period the great South- 
west, hitherto a wilderness, became a land of large cotton plan- 
tations. Southerners understood the evils of slavery, but up- 
held it for the sake of its profits, and because their industrial life 
seemed to admit of no better system of labor. 

496. The Question of Abolition. — The question attained 
vital importance as the nation expanded westward. In the 
North the Abolitionists, who demanded the extinction of slavery 
in the name of Christianity and right, were becoming a powerful 
political force. Others were as firm in their defence of the in- 
stitution. Whenever new territory was about to be acquired, 
accordingly, or new states admitted, heated discussion arose in 
Congress between the friends and foes of slavery. It became a 
bitter struggle of the North and South for the control of the 
West, giving rise to a series of compromises. The South, 
feeling the need of keeping political power, succeeded in main- 
taining as many slave as free states, each with two senators. 

In 1850 a compromise attempted to settle the question 
finally by granting generous concessions to the South. It is 
true that California was admitted as a free state and that the 
slave trade in the District of Columbia was abolished. At the 
same time the entire district ceded by Mexico was opened to 
slavery. It was provided, too, that federal officers should 
seize and restore to their owners those slaves who were attempt- 
ing to escape through the northern states to Canada. 

As Congress continued to yield to the demands of slavery, 
the abolitionist sentiment increased by leaps and bounds. 
Men of culture and wealth joined their ranks, among them 
Horace Greeley, editor of the New York Tribune, then the most 
influential newspaper in the country. Mrs. Harriet Beecher 
Stowe portrayed in Uncle Tom's Cabin a simple story of the 
terrible evils of slavery. While its picture was only in part 



Civil War and Reconstruction 445 

true, the sale of the book reached hundreds of thousands of 
copies. Its importance as a political pamphlet cannot be over- 
estimated, for it taught thousands to oppose slavery with un- 
compromising zeal. In this way it hastened the inevitable 
conflict between North and South. 

497. The Civil War (1861-1865). — 'Asa result of this agi- 
tation there was formed a new party — the Republican — 
which avowed its hostility to the institution. In i860 its can- 
didate, Abraham Lincoln, was elected President of the United 
States. The Southern states, angered at the loss of the power 
held for so many years, withdrew from the Union and organ- 
ized a new Confederacy. All attempts to conciliate the seced- 
ing states failed ; and the United States became a " house 
divided against itself." Lincoln accordingly called for volun- 
teers to restore the Union. The campaigns of the four terrible 
years which followed and the final victory of the North need 
not detain us here. 

In this great struggle President Lincoln issued the famous 
Emancipation Proclamation, which freed three and a half 
million slaves of the seceding states (January 1, 1863). This 
document was prompted partly by the dictates of humanity, 
partly as a military measure — to weaken the rebellion by de- 
priving the South of its laborers. At the end of the war the 
thirteenth amendment, prohibiting slavery throughout the 
length and breadth of the United States, became a part of the 
Constitution. 

498. Reconstruction ; a Better Union. — Now that armed 
conflict was over, there remained the serious question of restoring 
the Southern states to the Union. At this crisis the hand of an 
assassin robbed the nation of the services of its ablest states- 
man, Lincoln. The work of reconstruction was carried on by 
men many of whom were honest and patriotic, but unacquainted 
with real conditions. Not understanding the ignorance and 
the crude character of the negroes, they granted them full 
suffrage. Naturally these freed men were incapable of perform- 
ing their newly acquired function. Hence they became the 
tools of unscrupulous politicians, who swarmed from the North 



446 The New World 

over all the Southern states to make their fortunes by securing 
political control to the blacks. They are aptly described as 
carpet-baggers. There followed, then, instead of wise, con- 
structive legislation, extravagance, fraud, and anarchy. This 
condition of affairs plunged the states farther into debt, and 
awakened a bitter race conflict between blacks and whites. 
The people of the North attempted to correct the mischief 
they had wrought, but finally left to the South the difficult 
task of solving the race problem. In self-preservation the 
Southerners have disfranchised the negroes; and they will 
probably remain in that condition until they become sufficiently 
educated and trained to exercise the franchise without injury 
to the country. 

Gradually the old wounds have healed, and the North and 
South have come to appreciate how indispensable they are to 
each other. Railroads and telegraphs have served to bring 
distant regions near together, and have perhaps done more 
than anything else to rid the country of sectional jealousies. 
The individual states, too, have seen the wisdom of dropping 
local ambitions for the good of the nation at large. In this way 
there has gradually come about since the Civil War a United 
States truly " one and indivisible." 

499. A New Economic Life in Country and City. — The Civil 
War, too, marked a new epoch in the industrial life of the 
country. The new industries had long displaced the old- 
fashioned methods of working and living. The railroads were 
recognized as the arteries of the new life. Congress made large 
grants of money and land for the building of a transcontinental 
road. The construction of the Central Pacific, running east- 
ward from San Francisco, and of the Union Pacific, extending 
westward to meet it, was carried on with tremendous haste. 
The driving of the last spike was attended by elaborate cere- 
monies throughout the nation (1869). The rapid settlement 
of the distant West ensued. The government furthered this 
immigration by granting a free farm to any one who would 
promise to work it. Stock-raising, however, was usually found 
more profitable ; and for that reason great herds of cattle with 



Country and City 



447 



their picturesque cowboys have ever characterized the West. 
Its vast prairies, too, encouraged the cultivation of grain on a 
large scale. If necessary, this district could feed the world. 

In the East, where mineral resources were more plentiful, 
the factory system sprang up. This development meant the 
growth of large cities, in which centred scores of railroad sys- 
tems. The city brought with it many serious problems. Too 
often these questions were left to the self-seeking politician to 
solve ; for the majority were too busy making money to attend 
to such matters. Only to-day people are beginning to appre- 
ciate the importance of 
expelling the " bosses " 
with their corruption and 
inefficiency from the city 
government. To some 
extent these rogues have 
been replaced by men of 
great ability, often experts 
in the problems of city 
life. Citizens spend time 
and money in making their 
town a good and pleasant 
place to live in. Much 




Cowboy and Steer 



Pulling a steer from the mud, a common 
occurrence in ranch life. From Roosevelt, 
has been done ' but much R anc h Life and Hunting Trail, by permission 
... . i of the Century Co. 

more attention must be 

given to transportation, public parks, wider streets, schools, 

playgrounds, public bathing places, better health laws, purer 

milk, better water, a more efficient and comfortable system of 

housing the poor, as well as to the protection of life and property 

from the dangers of fire, and the improvement of sanitary 

conditions. 

500. The Trust Problem and the Labor Problem. — Since 
the Civil War men have made large fortunes in exploiting such 
natural resources as coal, iron, lumber, and oil. Others have 
accumulated money by manufacturing. The growth of busi- 
ness on a large scale has produced combinations known as the 
trusts. Often they have been guilty of political corruption, 



448 The New World 

and of injuring or ruining small investors and competitors by 
criminal practices. By a series of wise laws, however, Congress 
has succeeded in transforming them into capable and efficient 
servants of the people. At the same time the attitude of the 
government has changed from open hostility to one of friend- 
liness. Boards and commissions have been created not only 
to secure a "square deal " for the public, but to assure to busi- 
ness proper returns on capital invested. 

In the United States as elsewhere the growth of industries 
has been accompanied by labor problems. Workers in most 
fields have organized to obtain what they consider their fair 
share of the profits of their employers. The strikes which ac- 
companied this struggle have caused much suffering, not only 
to the workers themselves, but to the millions of people who 
depend on their products. Both capital and labor, however, 
seem more willing than formerly to submit their questions to 
arbitration by an impartial board and to abide by its decision. 
It is hoped therefore that the laborer may thus secure not only 
a sufficient but a happy living, for his welfare is the welfare of 
all. The principle of old-age pensions, employers' liability, and 
the minimum wage * are rapidly gaining favor. 

The greatest problem still to be solved is the condition of 
women and children in the industries. " That children should 
be shut up for long hours in close factories, doing over and over 
again some little thing whose very repetition seems to stunt the 
body and dull the mind, can hardly be allowed permanently 
in a country which understands that its future is in the hands 
of its children and that no amount of cheap cotton or of cheap 
shoes is compensation for stunted and benumbed youth." 2 

In this chapter we have seen how the United States has be-, 
come indeed a great nation stretching from the Atlantic to the 
Pacific. In another connection we shall see how we acquired 
lands beyond the sea, and the duties and burdens as well as 
the benefits arising from our new empire. 

1 That is, legislation which shall fix the lowest pay at which any specified class of 
persons shall be permitted to work. 

2 Simons, Social Forces in American History, 534. The evils here denounced will 
be to some extent eradicated by President Wilson's Child Labor Law passed by 
Congress in the summer of 1916. 



Studies 449 

Topics for Reading 

I. Origin and Character of Nationality. — Pollard, Factors in Modern 
History, ch. i ; Penwith, Lord Courtney of, Nationalism and War in the 
Near East, ch. i. 

II. Unification of Italy. — Hayes, Political and Social History of 
Europe, II, 163-75; Hazen, Europe Since 1815, chs. x, xvi; Holland, 
Builders of United Italy, see Contents ; Mackenzie, Nineteenth Century, 

354-74- 

III. German Economic Life. — Von Biilow, Imperial Germany, 248- 
89 ; Lichtenberger, Germany and its Evolution, bk. I, chs. i-iii ; Tower, 
Germany of To-day, ch. vii; Perris, Germany and the German Emperor, 
ch. x; Howard, Cause and Extent of Industrial Progress in Germany, 
see Contents. 

IV. Education and Intelligence in Germany. — Tower, chs. vi, x ; 
Richards, History of German Civilization, ch. xlvii. 

V. Franco-Prussian War. — Smith, Bismarck, 43-61 ; Headlam, 
Bismarck, chs. xiii, xiv ; Malleson, Refounding of the German Empire, 
chs. xi-xv. Cambridge Modern History, XI, chs. xvii, xxi. 

VI. The United States on the Threshold of the Twentieth Century. 
— Muzzey, American History, ch. xx ; Hart, American History told by 
Contemporaries, IV, chs. xxx-xxxiv. 

VII. Americanism. — Hill, Americanism, chs. iv, v; Roosevelt, 
Fear God and Take Your Own Part, especially chs. iv-ix. 

VIII. Social Conditions and Prospects of Latin America. — Enock, 
Mexico, especially chs. ix, xi, xiv-xvii ; Republics of Central and South 
America, especially chs. xv, xvi ; Bryce, South America, chs. xiii, xv, xvi. 

Review 

1. What two revolutions have taken place since 1789, and what are 
the effects of each? 2. Why should the people of the world act as 
nations? Give an example of national disruption; of national success. 
3. What was the character and spirit of the Congress of Vienna? 
What did it accomplish? How did it trespass upon the new national 
principle? 5. What revolutions followed, and how did the league 
of conservative powers deal with them? 6. Trace the steps in the uni- 
fication of Sardinia with northern Italy. Who were Victor Emmanuel 
and Cavour, and what part had each in this achievement? 7. Explain 
the formation of the present kingdom of Italy. What part had Gari- 
baldi in this work? 8. In what condition did the Congress of Vienna 
leave Germany? Describe the aspirations and the achievements of the 
intellectual class. 9. Describe the Prussian revolution in industry. 

Explain the economic unification of Germany. 10. Explain the 
growth of the Prussian military power. Who were Wilhelm I and 
Bismarck? How was the political unification of Germany achieved? 

2G 



450 The New World 

ii. Describe the extent and the condition of the Turkish empire 
about 1800. How did the government treat the subject Christians? 

12. Narrate the events which brought about the liberation of Greece. 

13. What designs upon Turkey were cherished by Russia? What 
policy toward Turkey was adopted by the Congress of Paris ? 14. What 
other Balkan states gained their independence, and in what way? 
15. Describe the liberation of Latin America. What forms of govern- 
ment did the liberated countries adopt ? 16. Describe their population 
and their politics. 17. What are the characteristics of the Latin 
Americans, men and women? 18. Describe their country life. Who 
are the peons and what is their condition? 19. Give an account of the 
resources of Latin America. Why has it not made greater progress? 
20. What have foreign capitalists done in Latin America? Are they 
a benefit or an injury to the natives? What checks should be placed on 
their exploitation of the country? 21. What was the condition of 
the United States at the close of the revolution? 22. Explain the 
formation of the constitution. 23. Describe the westward expansion ; 
the successive enlargements of territory. 24. How was the West col- 
onized? Describe the frontier life. 25. Give an account of the War 
of 1812. Why did our merchant marine afterward decline? 26. By 
what process did slavery become a political issue of supreme impor- 
tance? 27. What movements were made for checking and for abolish- 
ing slavery? 28. What caused the Civil War? Describe its general 
character and its results. 29. Give an account of the so-called recon- 
struction of the South. 30. In what way is "a more perfect union" 
now in process of growth? 31. What economic progress has taken 
place since the war? 32. What are trusts? How has Congress dealt 
with them? What labor problem has arisen, and what efforts have 
been made to solve it? What is the Child Labor Law? 

Additional Studies 

1. Expand the statement in § 470 as to the restriction on man's in- 
dependence during the Middle Ages and his liberation through the 
French Revolution (by reviewing these earlier chapters). 2. Compare 
the modern nation with the Greek city-state. In what respects are they 
alike ? In what respect is the nation a higher development ? 3. Would 
a world-state be desirable ? Give reasons for your answer. 4. Mention 
a present European power which consists of several nationalities. Is 
this composition a source of strength or of weakness? 5. What geo- 
graphical feature of Italy has contributed to her disunion through long 
periods of her history? 6. Compare the unification of Italy with that 
of Germany. 7. From a review of earlier chapters give an account 
of the origin of the Turkish empire. 8. Why has not Turkey shared in 
the general progress of the world? 9. What advantages or disadvan- 



Studies 451 

tages do the modern Greeks derive from the fact that they have illus- 
trious ancestors ? 10. Why are the governments of the Latin American 
states less stable than our government ? 11. Every nation in the enjoy- 
ment of good government has worked out its own system through long 
and painful experience. If left to themselves, what will probably be- 
come of the Latin states? 12. Why does their salvation depend so 
much on the ruling class? 13. What were the economic causes that 
led to the formation of our Constitution? 14. Compare the territorial 
growth of the United States with that of any European power. How 
far have we resorted to conquest? 15. What has been the part of 
railways in bringing about a unity of feeling in our country ? 16. When 
did the industrial revolution enter our country, and what have been 
its effects? 17. What are some of the economic and social problems 
still needing solution ? 18. What aid to the solution of these problems, 
if any, may we derive from the study of history ? 



CHAPTER XXIX 

RECENT IMPERIALISM 

From 1785 to the Present 

I. The Beginnings of Empire-building 

1 785-1826 

501. Great Britain Maintains Her Supremacy. — In the 

work of empire-building which has brought about the political 
condition of the world of to-day Great Britain has held the lead, 
chiefly because the industrial revolution first took place in that 
country. She could make and sell goods more cheaply and of 
better quality than any other European nation. Her tools and 
clothing found a ready market on the Continent. In spite of 
the loss of her thirteen American colonies she still possessed 
oversea dependencies anxious to buy her wares. Undoubtedly 
she could make further profit by adding to these possessions ; 
and this she could do, for she had the means of building and 
maintaining the most powerful navy in the world. 

Such was the state of affairs when the French people through 
their revolution (ch. xxvi) engaged in internal reform. Al- 
though the work was completed to their own satisfaction, it 
antagonized the rest of Europe, and led to war between France 
and her neighbors. From the beginning the attitude of Great 
Britain was hostile. She granted subsidies to the enemies of 
France on the Continent, and at the same time she made the 
most of her opportunity to widen her colonial possessions, 
with their vast supplies of raw materials and their new markets 
for finished goods. To pay her military expenses she broadened 
her trade to the detriment of her enemies and of neutrals in 

452 




»EAN POWERS 

1914 

]Italian I ( Belgian 

I [Spanish I ] Danish 

I [ Portuguese F 1 Tivtrh 



30 Longitude 



East 90 from 120 Greenwich 150 



British Acquisitions 453 

every possible way. It was a further advantage that the Dutch 
power collapsed (1798) and its dominions were temporarily 
transferred to Great Britain. 

Meanwhile the century-long struggle between the French 
and the British was nearing a climax. Napoleon made a val- 
iant attempt to attack India — the keystone of the British 
empire — through Egypt. Having failed in this expedition 
he sold Louisiana to the United States (§ 492), and used the 
proceeds in the construction of a navy. In this way he aimed 
to win for himself at least the freedom of the seas. The de- 
struction of his fleet at Tra-fal-gar' (1805), however, dispelled 
all hope of success, and Great Britain emerged triumphant, the 
first power in the world. Her gains included Cape Colony, 
Ceylon, and many islands of strategic value scattered over the 
globe. France retained but a few colonial remnants, and five 
seaports in India. She and Holland ceased to be rivals of Great 
Britain. 

502. India ; Australia. — During all this time the British 
were busily engaged in widening their possessions in India. 
The home government showed a surprising lack of interest in 
these endeavors. By chance alone the work fell into the hands 
of men like Wellesley and Warren Hastings, who had the best 
interests of their country at heart. They understood, too, the 
Indian mind and how best to win the native princes, whether 
by a show of force or the power of gold. It is difficult to match 
in excitement the struggle with the tribes of northwest India, 
ending in their subjugation. Progress, too, was made in ac- 
quiring not only the interior but the seaboard, including Sin- 
ga-pore', through whose harbor all traffic between India and 
China had to pass. Before 1826 more than a hundred million 
people were brought under British rule. These were long 
strides toward winning the vast Indian empire. 

A hardly less important feature of the period was the redis- 
covery and colonization of an entire continent, Australia, 
equal in area to the United States. Australia had been known 
to the Dutch since the early seventeenth century, but she had 
been ignored for the more obvious treasures of the Indies. 



454 Beginnings of Imperialism 

Captain Cook rediscovered the eastern coast and took posses- 
sion in the name of the British crown. The actual work of 
settlement was the direct result of the American revolution. 
Up to this time America had served as a " dumping ground " 
for criminals; afterward Australia took its place. Persons 
condemned for crime were sold into servitude for $20 a head 
and deported. In 1798 a gang of the kind was landed at 
Botany Bay. iVnother group founded what is now the pros- 
perous city of Sidney. In such colonies vain attempts were 
made to convert pickpockets into farmers. The difficulties 
of colonization were enormous. Drought was not unusual, and 
famine was all too frequent. Owing to the scanty production 
food was at all times expensive. The intelligence of the popu- 
lation was low, and many of the military officers in charge were 
incapable and dishonest. Gradually, however, free settlers 
began to take advantage of the grazing grounds, which are the 
finest in the world. These men rather than the convicts were 
the real pioneers of colonization, and it is largely due to their 
efforts that Australia is now a great and prosperous common- 
wealth. 

503. Africa and America ; Summary. — This period, too, 
saw the opening of Africa, the last continent to be seized by 
Europeans. Hitherto the chief use of this area had been to 
supply black merchandise. For the time the profits of the 
slave trade hushed every question of right or wrong. Toward 
the close of the eighteenth century, however, men awoke to the 
rights of the individual. Kind-hearted people throughout the 
English-speaking world formed societies to denounce the slave 
trade as a blot on Christianity. The British government 
recognized these whole-souled efforts by abolishing the traffic 
in slaves (1807). This act marked the beginning of a new era 
for tropical Africa. Societies were formed for the scientific 
exploration of the Dark Continent. English farmers, too, 
began to find new homes in the extreme southern portion, and 
served to keep the Dutch settlers there from becoming pre- 
dominant. 

It was in this period that the thirteen colonies broke away 



New Colonizing Powers 455 

from the mother country to form a new nation — one that 
speedily entered upon the work of colonization and empire- 
building (§ 490 ff.). Their success encouraged other colonies 
to improve their conditions. It was only natural, then, that 
the Spanish and Portuguese colonies in America should take 
advantage of the weakness of the mother countries to achieve 
their independence. 

The early years of the nineteenth century therefore were no- 
table for the elimination of the old colonial powers : Portugal, 
Spain, Holland, and France. In their place we find Great 
Britain, the master state, Russia, which had already gained a 
hold upon Siberia, and the United States with its prospect of 
absorbing a large part of North America. 

II. Progress toward World Partition 
1826-1876 

504. Effects of the Industrial Revolution. — During this 
period Great Britain remained the workshop of the world; 
it seemed inconceivable that she should have a rival in making 
or in selling goods. It was a further advantage to her that she 
controlled the carrying trade and the money markets of the 
world. Undoubtedly the opportunity of securing far larger 
transmarine areas lay at her door. For the most part, however, 
she was content to hold what she already had, and the work of 
empire-building therefore suffered a temporary lapse. In this 
period the steamship shortened distances and made communi- 
cation with far-off regions safer and quicker. With the advent 
of this new means of transportation the possession of coaling 
stations came to be extremely important. In this respect Great 
Britain was most fortunate, for by a combination of accident 
and foresight she had acquired many islands scattered over 
the waters of the globe that were suitable for the purpose. 

505. Africa; Exploration and Partition. — The suppres- 
sion of the slave traffic in Africa meant an annual loss of 
$30,000,000 — a deficit which merchants hoped to make good 
by discovering and using the natural resources of that conti- 



456 World Partition 

nent. With this impetus scientists and travellers proceeded 
to explore the interior. Undoubtedly David Livingstone, a 
Scotch missionary, accomplished more than any other person. 
His travels during a period of twenty-three years took him 
through almost impenetrable jungles and forests across the 
entire continent. His explorations riveted the attention of 
the world ; and when on one of his journeys it seemed that he 
was lost or dead, Henry M. Stanley under the auspices of the 
New York Herald went on a search for him. Stanley's narra- 
tive, How I Found Livingstone, fascinated the world and in- 
creased the appetite for further exploration of Africa. 

Without doubt the most important feature of the period was 
the French conquest of Al-ge'ri-a. As a matter of fact this 
district was not taken for pure lust of dominion, but because 
the deepening commercial interest of France demanded that 
the northern coast of Africa be kept clear of Barbary pirates. 
By force of arms she took possession of Algiers and the neigh- 
boring territory. In Upper Guinea, however, she found it 
impossible to compete with the English, to whom therefore she 
left undisputed possession of that district. The efforts of 
France in Lower Guinea proved far more profitable. Mean- 
while, with British approval, Portugal, which had just lost 
Brazil, obtained compensation in western Africa. 

About the same time, in their South African possessions, the 
British encountered difficulties with the Boers, as the Dutch 
settlers were called. Predominant in numbers, they wished 
their dialect to become the official language, whereas the Eng- 
lish insisted that their tongue be used exclusively. It was a 
further cause of friction that the Boers forced the natives, an 
extremely ignorant people, to hard labor, while the English 
missionaries were endeavoring to raise them to a higher state 
of civilization. The discontent of the Boers grew apace. 
Finally when negro slavery was abolished, the Boer farmers, 
abandoned their homes and moved into Natal. Their migra- 
tion is known as the great trek. In 1845 the British asserted 
authority over this region ; and again the Boers trekked, 
founding the Orange Free State and the Transvaal. The Eng- 



Africa and India 457 

lish in their process of expansion continued to follow them; 
but a stop was put to this movement before the Crimean war, 
when Great Britain recognized the independence of the Boer 
states (1854). 

506. The Suez Canal. — During this period a radical change 
took place in the trade routes of the world, when a French engi- 
neer, De Lesseps, formed a universal stock company to build 
and operate a canal across the Isthmus of Suez. In 1869 this 
waterway of 87 miles was opened to merchant ships of all 
nations. It proved an immediate and wonderful success, as 
it rendered unnecessary the long trip round the Cape of Good 
Hope to India, China, and Australia. Forming a short, direct 
route to the Orient, it brought India, the best part of the Brit- 
ish empire, within easy reach of Europe. England therefore 
sought to obtain a controlling interest in the canal and in Egypt, 
lest some hostile power cut her off from her Indian possessions. 
Through a financial masterstroke (1875) English bankers suc- 
ceeded in purchasing 177,000 shares of Suez Canal stock — 
enough to secure British control. 

507. The Near Orient and India. — Meantime Russia was 
cautiously feeling her way southward in an attempt to obtain 
a port free from ice through the entire year. Early in the period 
her power extended definitely across the Caucasus and in direct 
contact with Persia — a country which showed every evidence 
of friendship. It was merely a question of time before she 
would threaten Af-ghan-is-tan', the threshhold of India. Eng- 
land made haste therefore to secure the neutrality of that 
region, that it might serve as a buffer-state against the Russian 
advance, 

In India itself the Crown took over the reins of government 
which the East India company had held for two centuries. By 
this act British control gained great military and administra- 
tive efficiency. Economic conditions, too, were undergoing 
constant improvement. The building of roads, railways, and 
canals went on rapidly. Finally in 1877 Queen Victoria assumed 
the title of Empress of India. It was not a cheap title, but a 
recognition of an accomplished fact — the end of danger from 



458 World Partition 

foreign states and from internal trouble. It showed in an un- 
mistakable way that England was ready to defend India at all 
costs, as an integral part of the British empire. 

508. The Far East. — For the first time we find it neces- 
sary to turn our attention to the Far East, the home of the 
oldest civilization now existing and of one quarter of the human 
race. During the first half of the nineteenth century China 
and Japan were forced by the onrushing tide of European ex- 
pansion to let down the barriers which they had jealously 
guarded for centuries against the outside world. Some foreign 
trade indeed had been carried on at Canton, and along the 
northern border of China, but it was monopolized by the Chi- 
nese merchants. The official class was unreservedly hostile 
to foreigners, whom they considered as inferiors, and fit to deal 
only with the unimportant members of their rank. The latter 
were easily susceptible to bribery and permitted the importa- 
tion of opium contrary to the orders of their superiors. In 
1839 the government confiscated 20,000 chests of the drug, and 
threatened the lives of the hated foreigners. These incidents 
led to the struggle between Great Britain and China, which 
resulted in the opening of the latter country to the outside world. 
The conqueror secured the right to occupy Hong Kong, and 
together with other countries received commercial privileges in 
certain ports. 

There remained the arrogance and hostility that had grown 
through centuries of seclusion. The Chinese government 
refused to receive communications from European powers 
except as humble petitions. It continued further to maltreat 
foreigners, especially missionaries. The threat of war, how- 
ever, finally induced China to recognize the equality of Euro- 
peans, to establish a diplomatic system, and to grant greater 
commercial facilities to merchants. 

Japan bore a similar relation to the outside world. For 
centuries that country had been under the feudal regime of the 
Shogun, who lived where Tokio is now situated. The Mikado, 
the nominal sovereign, was considered a deity, the spiritual 
head of the state. The Shogun was not hostile to foreigners, 



Unity of Britons 459 

but afraid lest he be overthrown and replaced by the Mikado. 
In 1853 the United States sent Perry to inquire about the mal- 
treatment of American sailors. Thereupon the Shogun con- 
ceded that foreigners could reside in certain specified places. 
When this agreement was violated, the combined English, 
French, Dutch, and American fleets forced him to yield. A 
few years afterward the Mikado was restored to power. This 
event marked the beginning of a new era for Japan, in which 
she became a national state of the modern European type. In 
another place we shall see with what success this transformation 
was attended. 

509. Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. — With the 
abolition of all penal settlements (1853) the stigma was removed 
from colonization in Australia. Thousands of farmers and 
stockraisers were attracted to this region with its rich farm- 
lands and splendid sheep pastures. Expansion from the towns 
on the east coast to the vacant lands in the interior may well 
be compared with that of the United States in the same period. 
Meanwhile New Zealand, hitherto the home of seal and whale 
fishers, was beginning to attract thousands of hardy pioneers. 
Their descendants have shown the world how in a practical 
way the benefits of democracy can be made to operate for the 
good of all the people. 

In 1867 Great Britain united her provinces north of the 
United States into a self-governing unit, the Dominion of 
Canada. While the ties of blood and sympathy connecting 
it with the mother country have remained as strong as ever, 
the greater freedom accorded this colonial domain has un- 
doubtedly served to quicken the work of expansion within its 
area. 

Australia, New Zealand, and Canada have this in common, 
that the great majority of their inhabitants are British by de- 
scent. These countries, therefore, along with Great Britain, 
constitute the foundation of British power and of British civil- 
ization. All have cooperated in the gigantic struggle, begin- 
ning in 1 91 4, to prevent the Teutonic powers from gaining a 
mastery of the World. 



460 Contemporary Imperialism 

III. Contemporary Imperialism 

From 1876 to the present 

510. Review of the Transition from Nationalism to Imperial- 
ism. — From the close of the Middle Ages to the period we 
have now reached the strongest force in European politics 
was nationalism. In the study of that time our attention was 
constantly riveted upon the struggles for independence waged 
by peoples who considered themselves in bondage. In these 
struggles several nations were successful in gaining political 
existence. Their new national life welcomed railroads, fac- 
tories, and other features of the industrial revolution. Follow- 
ing the example of England, practically every such country 
engaged in manufacturing and commerce. It was not long 
before a superabundance of goods was produced for the home 
population, in spite of the fact that it increased by leaps and 
bounds. Expansion so rapid demanded new lands for colo- 
nization and new markets. It was impossible to satisfy these 
ambitions in continental Europe except at the expense of 
neighbors; and the seemingly limitless areas oversea proved 
far more attractive than the chances of conquest at home. 
Hence each modern nation has attempted to win control of as 
large a part of the world's surface as its energies and oppor- 
tunities have permitted. 

511. International Relations of Friendship and Enmity. — 
The most obvious result of Imperialism, as this policy is 
called, has been to bring about the growth of international 
relations. Railroads and steamships, too, have brought people 
of all countries more closely together, and thus we have come 
to think and live in approximately the same way. This simi- 
larity of life gave rise to the idea that we are all a common 
part of humanity, and that events will continue to take 
place with little friction among men and nations. The use 
of arbitration, too, for the peaceful settlement of disputes 
seemed efficacious. The holding of frequent international con- 
gresses and expositions sought to emphasize the brotherhood 
of man. These tendencies served to create the illusion that 



Policies of Imperialism 461 

there could never again be war, unless perhaps a merely local 
conflict. 

It is evident, however, that nations brought closely together 
will sometimes meet in an unfriendly as well as in a friendly 
way. Tradition has emphasized narrow national ideals in laws 
and customs, literature and art, to the exclusion of everything 
foreign. These feelings are accentuated under the keen compe- 
tition of Imperialism ; so that the facts of international politics 
are in absolute conflict with the theory of human brotherhood. 

Since 1876 the activity of expansion has been feverish, for 
each nation has set out to gain its share of land not already 
possessed by other Europeans. This competition between 
the great powers has brought with it a vast increase in arma- 
ments — large standing armies to protect the mother countries 
from possible attack by a jealous rival, and huge navies to de- 
fend coaling stations and trade routes. These rivalries are in 
fact the underlying cause of the great European war which 
broke out in 1914. 

512. Methods of Empire-building. — A movement extend- 
ing over areas so vast and peoples so varied has brought into 
play various methods of winning territory. In many cases the 
missionary was the pioneer of expansion. Not only did he 
convert the people of far-away lands to Christianity, but he 
taught them the benefits of European civilization. Practically 
this meant the use of innumerable articles manufactured in 
Europe. The trader accordingly found it profitable to follow 
in his wake. Naturally the merchant was not content to re- 
main in the seaports, but wished to penetrate to the interior. 
To prevent his meeting with onerous taxes or interference in 
the transit of his wares, his home government sent the diplo- 
mat. If the latter failed to obtain fair treatment, the soldier, 
the sailor, and big guns succeeded in winning recognition of 
the rights of Europeans. 

Another method of expansion has rested on a strictly business 
basis : in this case no hope is cherished of making territorial 
and political acquisitions. The German " penetration " of 
South America is perhaps the best example of this type of col- 



462 Contemporary Imperialism 

onization. " A German merchant settles in some community, 
extends his business relations by founding branch houses in 
neighboring towns, and draws after him to his new home both 
relatives and friends. Then, too, by the side of their commer- 
ercial establishments, agricultural colonies are often founded. 
Finally, to facilitate the exchange of products banking opera- 
tions are carried on between the mother country and the 
colony. The colonists avoid all interference in local political 
affairs, confining their attention to the development of the 
country's wealth. As a consequence they generally enjoy the 
confidence and esteem of the populations among whom they 
work." l 

In areas in which several nations are seeking supremacy, as 
in China, they have sometimes found it desirable to apportion 
the territory among themselves. By this division each nation 
receives a definite region, known as a " sphere of influence," 
in which it has full liberty to do business. Here it may obtain 
railway and mining concessions, and pursue a business monopoly, 
but it is not permitted to exercise political supervision. Too 
often, however, the commercial right serves as a stepping stone 
to political control followed by annexation. 

513. British Imperial Policy. — Early in this period, which 
began in 1876, Great Britain fully awoke to the duties and 
responsibilities of imperialism. The work of welding together 
and of protecting her vast possessions has been carried on with 
unparalleled vigor. Much has been accomplished in develop- 
ing natural resources, in constructing internal improvements, 
and in bettering the condition of the natives. Through this 
policy she has maintained her leadership in transmarine ex- 
pansion, and is undoubtedly the most successful colonizing 
nation of to-day. In the accomplishment of her gigantic tasks 
there has been a surprising lack of system. Fortunately men 
of proven character have been chosen to care for the posses- 
sions oversea. Few restrictions are placed upon them; in 
fact they are granted great powers of discretion, and a wide 
scope in which to exercise initiative and enterprise. Then, too, 
1 Reinsch, World Politics, 282. 



Imperial Nations 463 

those colonies in which English-speaking peoples predominate 
have received the gift of responsible government, while through- 
out Britain's entire possessions, just laws and equal oppor- 
tunities for all have been consistent features of her policy. 

514. Russian Imperialism. — On the other hand Russia 
has become the leader in overland expansion. With the advent 
of the industrial revolution the possession of an ice-free port 
became more essential than ever before. Bound in by other 
countries to the west, she attempted to force her way through 
the Balkans. Checked on every hand, she next turned eastward, 
gradually occupying the vast region of Siberia. " Of all Euro- 
pean powers Russia is in some respects the most successful as 
a colonizer in Asia. Herself semi-Oriental, she is not so far 
above the various tribes of the Asiatic plains as to misunder- 
stand them. The Russians have an insinuating manner and 
great tact in diplomatic intercourse, and at the same time a 
political system the splendor and concentrated majesty of 
which impress the Oriental mind far more than do the simple 
business methods of the Briton. They know when to use 
corruption, when to use force, and when to soothe with honors 
and decorations." 1 

515. German Imperialism. — In this period, too, Germany 
became a colonial power. With astonishing rapidity a country 
of farmers was transformed into a nation of factories. The 
large surplus of goods demanded an outlet, and forced the 
nation to enter on a career of expansion; but unfortunately 
she found most of the ground already taken. Her few colonies, 
too, have proved disappointing, doubtless because her system 
of petty officials and her police-sergeant methods have ham- 
pered colonists and have induced them to go elsewhere. In 
fact hundreds of thousands of German farmers have settled in 
the territory of other nations, and have changed their political 
allegiance. Here their natural ability and perseverance have 
converted many a wilderness into rich farmlands. At the 
same time this colonial " penetration " has been carried on 
with equal success by German business men (§ 512). It has 

1 Reinsch, World Politics, 49 /. 



464 Contemporary Imperialism 

been to their advantage that the home government has kept 
in touch with her subjects abroad; her admirable consular 
service is always ready to lend a helping hand. Then, too, 
Germany maintains a large navy not only to keep her posses- 
sions intact, but to protect her trade routes and her subjects 
when abroad. 

516. The Imperialism of Other Nations. — The last forty 
years has seen the awakening of French ambition. The desire 
for a colonial empire first arose from the necessity of maintain- 
ing her national prestige, to prevent her from becoming a second- 
rate power. In this way too she attempted to gain com- 
pensation for losses suffered in Europe. An additional mo- 
tive has been that a colonial empire means trade outlets for 
manufactures, and markets in which it is possible to buy 
raw stuff. Italy, too, has entered upon expansion, in 
rivalry with other powers. The recent acquisitions of France 
and Italy will be considered below. Austria-Hungary has 
sought to extend her boundaries overland in the direction of the 
Balkan states. The annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina 
(§ 483), and her obvious attempt to control Serbia, are steps in 
this policy. Belgium also has made her advent as a colonizing 
country in the Congo region. In this case the work was carried 
on for a time by a wealthy capitalist — her sovereign Leopold 
II. Portugal has retained her possessions on the east and west 
coasts of Africa, though unable properly to utilize or govern 
them. This period has seen, too, the final breaking up of the 
shadowy Spanish empire; to-day Spain retains merely what 
she had before Columbus — the Canary Islands — and in 
addition three slight possessions in Africa. Finally the United 
States has become interested in oversea expansion, particu- 
larly in the Car-ib-be'an sea and the Pacific. Since 1898 she 
has definitively joined the ranks of other colonial powers. 

517. Germany in Africa. — The early part of this period 
saw the complete partition of Africa. Not since the sixteenth 
century has there been such an extraordinary scramble for new 
territory as that which has recently taken place on that conti- 
nent. The entrance of a new contestant, Germany, in the field 



In Africa 465 

has served only to intensify the rivalry. While that country 
was still agricultural, her explorers and missionaries had done 
pioneer work in unclaimed regions. Following them came 
merchants of Hamburg and Bremen, who carried on trading 
activities along the coast. Then German manufactures and 
trade began to develop there with astounding vigor, accompanied 
by an organization so thorough and efficient as to cause discom- 
fort in other commercial states. England thought it churlish 
and inexcusable of the newcomer to compete with her monop- 
oly; while France regarded Germany as an upstart. The 
latter, however, succeeded in colonizing several large districts 
along both the west and east coasts of Africa. Vast sums of 
money have been spent to develop these regions and to build 
railways and schools — a work unfortunately marred by offi- 
cial corruption. With the exception of German East Africa, 
which is comparatively prosperous, these colonies have proved 
financially and commercially disappointing. 

518. France in Africa. — The greater part of the continent, 
however, has become the property of England and France. 
The latter state has officially annexed Mad-a-gas'car, an island 
larger than her home territory. Her chief efforts, however, 
she has confined to the northern and western parts of the con- 
tinent. Here she has busied herself in occupying and consoli- 
dating a huge empire. Areas along the Congo have fallen 
under her sway. By occupying the oases of the Sahara she 
has established her claim upon that region. Since it is impos- 
sible to build railroads through the shifting sands, the work of 
" peaceful penetration " has largely been accomplished by 
automobiles. For a long time, however, France desired the 
possession of Morocco to round out her colonial empire. Its 
sovereign, who was weak and inert, spent his time and money 
in gathering about him all the semblances of modern culture 
as a proof to the world of his civilization. The French sup- 
plied him with soaps, pianolas, and phonographs. Their next 
step was to assist in suppressing revolts there, thus winning 
political recognition. In spite of ill-concealed opposition on 
the part of Germany and Spain accordingly France established 



466 Contemporary Imperialism 

a protectorate over Morocco (1913). As compensation Spain 
was allowed to retain a small area on the northern coast val- 
uable for its mines. 

519. Italy in Africa; her "Aspirations." — Meanwhile 
Italy, stimulated by the international rivalry, entered upon 
her career as an imperial power. With this end in view she 
appropriated Er-e'tri-a (1882) and So-ma'li-land (1889) on 
the eastern coast of Africa. Won at great cost of lives and 
money, these dependencies have been of little value commer- 
cially and financially. At the same time the climate is too hot 
to admit of their colonization by Europeans. More recently 
she cast her eyes across the Mediterranean upon Trip'o-li, a 
tributary of Turkey. Asserting that her merchants in that 
province were hampered and mistreated by the Turks, she 
declared on the sultan (§ 480) a war, in which she acquired the 
strip of coast extending from Tripoli to the border of Egypt. 1 
The conquering country hopes by irrigation and other modern 
appliances to restore to this nearly desolate region a degree of 
the fertility that it possessed under the Roman empire. In 
fact it is partly an ideal — her heritage of " glory " from ancient 
Rome — that has led her to this conquest. 

In her immediate neighborhood Italy aims to " realize her 
national aspirations " by acquiring the two Austrian provinces 
inhabited chiefly by people of Italian nationality, centring re- 
spectively in Trent (Trentino) situated in the eastern Alps, 
and in Tri-est' on the Adriatic. For the protection of her 
eastern coast, exceedingly long and difficult of defence, she aims 
to gain complete control of the Adriatic. As a first step in this 
direction she has seized and fortified Av-lo'na on the coast of 
the Balkan peninsula. It was with the vision of a larger Italy 
that she entered the great European war against the Teuton 
powers (1915). 

520. The Congo Region. — The work of exploring the basin 
of the Congo was carried on by an international association 
organized for the purpose. According to agreement this ex- 
tensive area was to be neutral ; each nation was promised equal 

1 ign-1912. 



In Africa 467 

trading privileges and the free use of the rivers. These prom- 
ises were not kept ; for Leopold II of Belgium, who had financed 
the work of exploration, wished to be sole proprietor (§ 516). 
In 1885 accordingly he became personal owner and granted to 
certain companies the right of exploiting the natural resources of 
the Congo Free State. The business of these corporations was 
frankly to make money by every possible means. The natives, 
who were employed in gathering rubber and in building railways, 
were reduced to a condition bordering upon slavery. The civil- 
ized world shuddered at tales of the inhuman barbarity with which 
both men and women were treated. A •committee sent to inquire 
into these outrages confirmed the reports. All felt that a single 
government should assume the responsibility, and the Congo ter- 
ritory was finally annexed to Belgium (1908). The barbarities 
were promptly checked. Since that time, too, administrative 
reforms and internal improvements have been introduced. 

521a. Great Britain in Egypt and the Soudan. — How the 
British acquired a vital interest in Egypt has been explained 
(§ 506). For a time this country continued under the rule of 
Turkey. Gross financial mismanagement on the part of the 
officials afforded Britain a reason for intervention. Her troops, 
who had captured Alexandria and had occupied Egypt, she 
promised to withdraw as soon as order was restored and prog- 
ress assured. Early in the great European war which began 
in 1914 the country was definitely separated from Turkey, and 
became a part of the British Empire. Possession of it is all- 
important to Britain, for it controls the Suez Canal, which in 
turn controls the destinies of India, the most valuable part of 
the British Empire. In itself, too, Egypt is a land of untold 
possibilities awaiting the introduction of scientific methods of 
irrigation to utilize the overflow of the Nile. Even now by 
this means vast stretches have been made very fertile. 1 In 
1898 General Kitchener won for England and Egypt the vast 
territory to the South — the Sou-dan' — with its semi-civilized, 
nomadic population. 

1 Lord Cromer's work, Modern Egypt, tells of other internal improvements carried 
on under his direction. 



468 Contemporary Imperialism 

521b. Great Britain in South Africa. — The British have met, 
too, with great success in South Africa. Early in this period 
the rapidly growing Cape Colony reached the borders of the 
Boer republics (§ 505). The Boers were farmers, peaceful, 
stolid and freedom-loving, but suspicious of people of other 
stocks. With the discovery of gold (1884) great numbers of 
foreigners, mostly British, settled among them. These out- 
siders were forced to pay taxes and render military service, but 
were not granted the right to vote. The demands of the British 
that their grievances be righted, met with a flat refusal on the 
part of the Boers. The friction, rapidly growing more intense, 
finally led to the outbreak of hostilities. Unprepared, the 
British entered lightly upon the contest with a few thousand 
Boer farmers ; but awakened by humiliating defeats, they made 
war upon a scale hitherto unknown. In the end force of num- 
bers and brilliant generalship got the better of dogged resist- 
ance ; and the Boer republics became a dependency of Britain 
(1902). 

Since that time several British possessions in South Africa 
have been brought into a close union (1910). It is practically 
self-governing, for the control of the Crown is slight. It even 
enjoys the right to make its own tariffs. Substantially, then, 
the Union has become an ally rather than a dependent of the 
Crown. 

522. The Partition of Asia ; India. — Perhaps the most in- 
teresting feature of expansion in Asia is British rule in India. 
India must be considered not as a nation, but as a continent; 
for in both size and population it is almost as large as all Europe. 
Nor has this vast region ever had a national life. Throughout 
its breadth half a dozen languages and several hundred dialects 
are spoken. In race, religion, social customs and ideals, and 
forms of government, her people are just as diversified. 

The greatest difficulty England has had to contend with 
is famine. A quarter of a billion inhabitants — many with 
only half an acre of land to the individual — depend entirely on 
farming for a living. With their scant resources drought means 
starvation to many and poverty to all. The English have 



India 469 

spent millions in building and maintaining an irrigation system, 
so that 13,000,000 acres are now watered by tanks, wells, or 
canals. In addition 30,000 miles of railway make possible the 
rapid transportation of food to districts in need. Hospitals 
have been built to accommodate 25,000,000 people annually. 
The rapid construction of schools is hastening to remove the 
blot of total ignorance from the native population. The post- 
office carries 1,000,000,000 letters every year. Then, too, the 
British have brought peace to a land disturbed by war and 
internal disorder. They have assured justice to a country ac- 
customed to arbitrary methods. Their police have protected 
the widows and orphans and have assured every man the right 
to keep what he owns. No empire so great has ever before 
been subject to a European nation ; nor has any other con- 
queror been so liberal in spending time, men, and money to 
improve the condition of its subjects. There remain, however, 
many evils to be corrected. 

523. Indian Nationalism and the Castes. — Having acquired 
a smattering of Western ideas, small groups of agitators have 
expressed dissatisfaction with British rule and have demanded 
self-government for India. A glance at the social and religious 
life of its people shows that such a privilege can be granted only 
in the distant future. Three-fifths of the people of India are 
Hindus, among whom a social as well as a religious bond affects 
every detail of daily life. The keynote of the system is caste ; 
the highest are the Brahmans or priests, then follow the war- 
riors, the agriculturists, and the serfs. Each Hindu belongs to 
a particular caste, in which he and his descendants must al- 
ways remain. 

" When it is remembered that the members of these differ- 
ent castes cannot intermarry, cannot eat together, and that as 
a rule no Hindu of good caste may eat food prepared by a man 
of inferior caste, and that much the same rule obtains in regard 
to the drinking water, one begins to understand dimly the diffi- 
culties inherent in any dealings with these people, whether for 
hygienic, social, or military purposes. . . . Just as one ex- 
ample, imagine the difficulty of helpfulness to one another 



47° 



Contemporary Imperialism 



when the neglected and help-needing person may be one whom 
to touch, or to come in contact with in any way, is a social 
and religious degradation, imperilling not only one's social 
position but one's salvation." l These problems cannot be 
solved by the granting of the suffrage and a constitution. 
It is necessary first to uproot the tyranny and social snobbery 

of Hinduism, which re- 
presses the individuality 
and ambition of its de- 
votees and crushes their 
very lives. 

524. The Rise of Japan. 
— The ambition of the 
Europeans to partition 
Asia among themselves, 
as they have partitioned 
Africa, met with its chief 
obstacle in Japan. Her 
rise as a modern state has 
won the admiration of the 
world. For centuries the 
Japanese have been a 
warrior nation, and they 
have recently awakened 
to the need of adopting 
modern equipment. With 
armies of the modern type 
they engaged in war with 
the mighty nation of Rus- 
sia ( 1 904-1 905). Their 
success in this conflict has won for Japan recognition as a great 
power. Since that war she has been a partner and a rival of 
the European nations in the work of partitioning Asia. Her 
immediate aim seems to be to gain control of China for her own 
advantage and to check as far as possible the exploitation of 
that country by Europeans. 

1 Collier, The West in the East, 211. 




Japanese Artists 

Their work is the mosaic called cloisonne. 
They are now soldering a thin network of 
copper on a basis of solid metal. Afterward 
they will fill the interstices of the network 
(the cloisons) with enamel paste of various 
colors. Finally they will bake and polish the 
ware. The product is very beautiful. 



The Far East 471 

Not only in the art of war but in every field of civilization has 
Japan borrowed from foreigners. Her art, literature, and phil- 
osophy came to her from China. During the last half-century 
she has eagerly sought to adopt Western industrial civilization. 
She has acquired our tools, our kind of factories, and in brief 
the most important technical and scientific features of our age. 
Here, too, nothing has been improved, nothing invented. 
While Japan has imitated the outward features of our life, she 
has remained Oriental in character She has not taken our 
religion, our traditions, our moral and ethical codes, our family 
ties, or any of the elements which make our civilization a power- 
ful, living force. Her own customs she considers superior. 

Like the European states Japan has become a colonizing 
nation. As yet, however, she has not devised a satisfactory 
system of governing the regions her soldiers have conquered. 
Her rule has been one of force and brutality; in no case has 
the respect of the natives been won. An example is Co-re'a, 
a country which she has subjugated. Naturally these faults 
time and experience may be able to remedy. It remains only 
to estimate the cost at which the work of conquest has been 
accomplished. In the last ten years the national debt has more 
than doubled. It must be remembered that Japan is one of the 
poorest countries in the world; it is still largely agricultural, 
with half of its land devoted to the cultivation of rice. The 
people who with difficulty obtain the mere necessities of life 
are forced to pay thirty per cent of their total income in taxes. 
A solution to this problem must be found before Japan can 
become a serious rival of the European powers. 

525. China. — Despite the wonderful growth of Japan, the 
real hope of the East lies in China. The placid countenance 
of the Chinaman and his peculiar manners, often the very op- 
posite of our own, have made him a mystery to us. These 
peculiarities, however, belong only to the exterior. Chinamen 
obey the same rules of morality that we do. Their standard 
of social life is the same; they like fame, wealth, children, 
family life, friends, books, landscapes and pictures. They 
appreciate a good joke and a good story ; they are tolerant of 



472 Contemporary Imperialism 

physical discomfort and contented with disagreeable conditions. 
Their honesty has made them the bankers and money changers, 
as well as shopkeepers and retailers, of the East. In many 
cases they own and manage steamship lines and factories. 
Wherever they go, their reliability is unquestioned. 

The Chinese are proud of their race, of their intellect, and of 
their civilization. For centuries they have lived free from 




An Old Examination-Hall 

Pekin, China. In the middle is a gatetower ; on each side is a row of stalls for 
the candidates. The candidate remained in his stall 48 hours at a time, eating, 
sleeping, and writing there. Several two-day sessions were required for the work. 
It was necessary to pass in order to be eligible to office. The system was abolished 
in 1904. 

interference ; hence they have become too self-satisfied. When 
the foreigner finally came, they were unable to oppose his gain- 
ing a foothold ; and at last Chinese statesmen have awakened 
to the fact that European institutions must be introduced as 
the only means of preventing the partition of the country among 
the great powers. The nation must employ the elements 
of physical strength which will safeguard her. Steps have 



East and West 473 

already been taken in this direction. Reform edicts have abol- 
ished ancient customs ; women are no longer permitted to bind 
their feet, or men to wear queues. Opium smoking — the 
curse of the country — has been prohibited. Railways have 
been built, mines opened, and the soil is tilled in a modern way. 
The beginnings of an army and navy have been made. It is 
now a race against time as to whether China will be able to 
take charge of her own destiny before her partition has been 
completed. 

In 191 2 China became a republic. This break with the past 
was easy and natural rather than abrupt, because for centuries 
the Chinese have been democratic in character and in social 
life. Although the individual has a great amount of liberty, 
the government remains strongly centralized. Only in this 
way is it possible to hold together the vast region in the interior, 
where the railroads have not yet penetrated. The success 
of the republic in fact lies in the personal ability of the Presi- 
dent and his staff to keep alive the new spirit that has been 
awakened. 

526. The Meeting of East and West. — The meeting of 
East and West has taught both many new things. From us 
the East has received material benefits ; how to use its natural 
resources, and how to live better and more, comfortably. But 
the East does not regard our civilization as superior, as a goal 
to strive for. " Most of the best things of the West — honesty, 
justice, mercy, impartiality, and sympathy — the East dislikes 
and would rather be without. The East is fatigued and dis- 
gusted by the rules, demands, and exigencies of the social inter- 
course of the West. To be on time, to answer letters, to pay 
visits, to dress at certain times and in a certain manner, to be 
severely accurate in money matters, to do day after day certain 
prescribed duties, the Oriental shrinks from as from slavery." x 
Furthermore it regards its own philosophy and religion as su- 
perior to ours ; so much so in fact that in spite of the century- 
long efforts of missionaries, India, Japan, and China are no 
more Christian at heart now than before. 

jollier, The West and the East, 531. 



474 Contemporary Imperialism 

On our part we have received from the ancient civilization 
of the East many intellectual contributions. We have come 
to know the beauty of Sanskrit literature and the vast lore of 
the Hindu religion. Eastern philosophy has become popular 
throughout Europe. Vegetarianism, theosophy, mental con- 
centration, meditation, breathing exercises, and " new thought" 
are Indian concepts which have become fads in the West. In 
fact there are Hindu missionaries among us ; their Swamis, 
located in many important cities of the United States and 
Europe, aim to emphasize the resemblance between Chris- 
tianity and Oriental faiths. It would be an obvious advantage 
to the nervous Westerner to acquire some of the Oriental 
placidity. It would broaden the Western materialist to gain 
from the Orient an interest in spiritual things. 

Contact with regions oversea has furnished us with an 
impetus to the study of new sciences, for example, Egyptology 
and Indology, which treat of the language and civilization of 
those regions. Romanticists and poets were the first to write 
of primitive people. In time their study has developed into 
the accurate sciences of anthropology and ethnology. It is 
an additional gain that contact with the poverty-stricken 
Indians has caused a kindlier feeling toward the needy and the 
distressed at home; and social economy has arisen to solve 
the problems of the poor. New birds, animals, flowers, and 
fruits have tempted lovers of nature to make a systematic 
study of the subjects in which they are interested. The re- 
sults are biology, zoology, mineralogy, and other natural 
sciences. In a varying degree these subjects have been stimu- 
lated by contact with the Orient, but far more than the rest the 
study of comparative languages and religions. 

527. Russian Asia. — In northern Asia Russia has ever 
been extending her railways eastward in search of a warm- 
water port. In this process she has absorbed all Siberia, and 
has turned her attention to Manchuria. A working agreement 
has " divided " this area between Russia and Japan. Then, 
too, Russia is interested in Mongolia, which, she insists, is 
racially a part of Siberia. Her claim is strengthened by the 



Southern Asia 475 

fact that China has been unable to exercise any real suzerainty- 
over that region. The northern part of Persia, too, has become 
a Russian sphere of influence, and her trading posts are even 
now extending to the south. Lastly she is widening her influ- 
ence along the southern shore of the Black Sea by railway and 
other concessions, and over a large part of Asia Minor and 
Mesopotamia. 1 

528. Southern Asia outside of India. — Great Britain's 
control of India has received attention above (§ 522 f.). Her 
occupation of Aden has made the Red Sea a British lake. From 
this starting point her influence has extended into the interior, 
where the native tribes have come under her sway. She is 
accordingly in practical control of Arabia, though it is still 
under the nominal rule of Turkey. 2 English influence, too, is 
predominant in southern Persia. In an agreement with Russia, 
Great Britain has received this region as a " sphere of influence," 
while leaving northern Persia as a Russian sphere. Bal-u- 
chi-stan' and the neighboring desert countries, also Tibet, 
Burma, the Malay peninsula as far south as Singapore, and 
several localities on the way to Hong Kong are under her 
dominion. She claims further the basin of the Si-Kiang river, 
the true China, as her sphere of influence. In brief the Rus- 
sians dominate northern Asia, and the British almost the entire 
south of the continent. France owns Indo-China and has 
interests in Siam. While the Dutch possess nothing on the 
continent, they own Java, Sumatra, the most of Borneo, 
and part of New Guinea. Germany, though granted a few 
islands and stations here and there, has been excluded from a 
share in the spoils of Asia. She has turned her attention 
therefore to the Turkish empire, a vast region that needs rail- 
ways, canals, and modern machinery. She has planned a rail- 
road running from Hamburg through Austria, Serbia, Bulgaria, 
the Turkish Empire, Persia, and southern Mesopotamia to the 

1 The government of Russia has announced (December, 1916) that her allies 
have promised her the possession of the Dardanelles, to take effect when this strait 
is wrested from Turkey. 

* Arabia is now (1916) struggling to gain her independence of Turkey. 



476 



Contemporary Imperialism 



Persian Gulf. This plan, if completed, would turn trade from 
the Suez canal, and would make communication between 
Europe and Asia German more than British. It is too early 
as yet, however, to assume its success*, or to measure its effects. 
529. The Imperialism of the United States. — Before 1916, 
then, the greater part of Asia was divided either as possessions 
or as spheres of influence among the European powers. A few 
Pacific islands remained. Here it was that the United States 




Panama Canal 

Showing a boat passing a lock. This canal was begun in igc-4. The length 
from deep water in the Atlantic to deep water in the Pacific is 50 miles. The mini- 
mum bottom width is 300 feet, and the average width is 649 feet. The minimum 
depth is 41 feet. From a drawing. 

showed her intention of becoming a great power in the ocean of 
the future — the Pacific. She forsook her policy of the past 
century — that of non-interference in foreign affairs. After 
her war with Spain (1898) annexations have followed with 
startling rapidity in both Atlantic and Pacific, including the 
Hawaiian and Philippine islands, Cuba, Porto Rico, Guam, and 
Samoa. 

The work of building and operating a canal connecting the 
Atlantic with the Pacific has been entirely in the hands of the 



The United States 



477 



United States. After many years of planning it was decided 
to construct it across the narrow isthmus of Panama. The 
United States offered Colombia a fair price for the zone in which 
the canal was to run. When this offer was refused President 
Roosevelt took advantage of a revolt on the Isthmus to recog- 
nize the Republic of Panama, which included the desired zone. 
The seizure of the zone was an infraction of our treaty with 
Colombia ; and although in this matter we have only followed 
the precedents of other powers, in taking what they needed and 
what they could obtain, we are under moral obligations to give 
satisfaction to the injured nation. t The process of construction, 
which lasted till 1915, 1 involved the highest engineering skill 
the world has ever seen. Commercially the Canal will bring 
about a tremendous change in the trade routes of the world. 
At the same time it is of strategic importance to the United 
States, for through it warships can be sent quickly from one 
shore to the other. This canal, together with the great navy 
inaugurated by President Wilson, will give the United States 
an overwhelming military superiority on the American conti- 
nents. 

By insisting on the " open door " in China — that is, the 
equal right of all nations to trade in that country — and by 
her island acquisitions the United States has avowed her inten- 
tion of playing an important part in the world's affairs. Her 
traditional policy formulated in Monroe's administration 
(1817-1825), and known therefore as the Monroe Doctrine, 
has prevented foreign nations from making conquests in either 
America. The European powers have understood it to imply 
that the United States has no intention of sharing in their 
rivalries. Now that this nation has adopted an aggressive 
policy in various parts of the world, the European powers may 
in the near future feel themselves free to interfere in the affairs 
of the American countries. If therefore we wish to maintain 
the Monroe Doctrine, we must at least assume responsibility 
for the protection of European interests in the American conti- 

1 At the close of the year igi6 the use of the canal is still deferred by slides, which 
will be remedied in time. 



478 Contemporary Imperialism 

nents ; and perhaps the time is not far distant when the pro- 
tection of the Americas may be entrusted to an alliance of the 
American nations. 

On April 6, 191 7, Congress declared that a state of war ex- 
isted between our country and Germany. The reason was 
Germany's continual violation of international law and of the 
rights of mankind. In this way the United States became a 
partner of Great Britain, France, Italy, and Russia in their 
stupendous conflict with the Teutons. 

Topics for Reading 

I. Imperialism and Internationalism. — Reinsch, World Politics, 
pt. I ; Slater, Making of Modern England, ch. xxii ; Hobson, Imperial- 
ism, see Contents; Angell, N., The Great Illusion, see Contents (argu- 
ment against war) ; Jones, J. H., Economics of War and Conquest (reply 
to the preceding). 

II. The Opening of China. — Hazen, Europe since 1815, pp. 682-7; 
Hayes, Political and Social History of Modern Europe, II. 560-76; 
Reinsch, pts. II, III; Collier, P., The West in the East, ch. ix (light 
but suggestive). Cambridge Modern History, XI. ch. xxviii; XII. ch. 
xvii. 

III. German Imperialism. — -Hayes, II. 415-26, 691-7; Reinsch, 
pt. IV; Smith, M., Bismarck, 59-87; Headlam, Bismarck (Heroes), 
365-439; Malleson, G. B., Refounding of the German Empire, ch. xvi; 
Lichtenberger, Germany and its Evolution, bk. I. chs. hi, iv; Von Biilow, 
Imperial Germany, 42-66, 114-23, 192-201 ; Fullerton, G. S., Germany of 
To-day (1915), chs. iv-vi. Cambridge Modern History, XII. ch. vi. 

IV. Imperialism of the United States. — Reinsch. pt. V. ; Hobson, 
see Index; Latane, J. H., America as a World Power, see Contents. 

Review 

1. What advantages had Great Britain for the maintenance and 
increase of her empire? Describe her struggle with Napoleon, and 
state its outcome. 2. How did she complete her subjugation of India? 
Give an account of her acquisition and colonization of Australia. 
3. What brought an end to the slave trade? What were the contem- 
porary happenings in the Americas ? What old colonial powers ceased 
to be colonial, and what other powers came to the front? 4. How did 
the industrial revolution aid Great Britain's imperial position? 5. De- 
scribe the exploration of Africa. What were the several possessions of 
the European powers in Africa at the close of this period (1876)? 



Studies 479 

6. What led to the building of the Suez Canal, and what is its impor- 
tance? 7. What effort did Russia make to reach the sea on the South 
and Southeast, and how was she checked? 8. What improvements did 
the British make in India ? How did they strengthen their hold on that 
country? 9. Describe the opening of China; the "Opium War" 
and its result. 10. Explain Mikado; Shogun. Describe the visit 
of Perry to Japan, and its result. 1 1 . Describe the progress of coloniza- 
tion in Australia; in New Zealand. What advance took place in the 
organization of Canada ? Why are these three countries mentioned to- 
gether? 12. What demands were created by industrialism and nation- 
ality? How were these demands to be supplied? 13. What is impe- 
rialism? 14. What effect had imperialism on international relations ? 
on armaments? 15. Describe the process of acquiring territory. 
What is meant by penetration? Spheres of influence? 16. What is 
the newer imperial policy of Great Britain? To what is her success 
due? 17. Describe the Russian policy and give a reason for its success. 
Where have the Russians acquired territory? 18. What are the causes 
and the characteristics of German imperialism? 19. What other Euro- 
pean peoples are imperialistic, and where have they severally acquired 
territory? 20. Describe the German possessions in Africa. 21. What 
are the French possessions in Africa? 22. What territories has Italy 
acquired in Africa? What are her "aspirations"? 23. Give an 
account of the Congo region. 24. What power controls Egypt and the 
Soudan? What is the importance of Egypt? 25. What are the pos- 
sessions of Great Britain in South Africa ? Give an account of the 
Boer War. 26. Describe the recent work of Great Britain in India. 
What are the obstacles in the way of Indian nationalism? 27. Give 
an account of the rise of Japan. What elements of civilization has 
she borrowed, and from whom? What is her economic condition? 
28. What progress are the Chinese making? What are the hopes for 
their future? 29. How may the West and the East benefit each other? 

30. Describe the encroachments of Russia upon the Far East. 

31. What powers are influential in southern Asia outside India, and 
what territory does each power hold or claim? 32. How has the 
United States become imperialistic, and what are her dependencies? 
Give an account of the Panama Canal ; of the project for a great navy ; 
of the " open-door " policy in China ; of the Monroe Doctrine. 

Additional Studies 

1. What were the possessions of Great Britain at the point of time 
when this chapter begins ? 2. Compare the struggle between England 
and Napoleon with the earlier struggle between England and Holland, 
and the still earlier struggle between England and Spain. What were 
the results of these conflicts ? 3. What did England learn through her 



480 Contemporary Imperialism 

experience with the thirteen American colonies, and how did she apply 
this knowledge? 4. Compare the Suez Canal with the Panama Canal. 
What will probably be the commercial and the political effects of the 
latter? 5. If China awakens as Japan has awakened, what will be the 
political bearings of such an event? 6. Compare the first colonies of 
Australia with those of North America. Which is the more important 
for the prosperity of a country, its natural resources or the character of 
its inhabitants? 7. What class in England and America is chiefly 
benefited by imperialism? 8. Show how the growth of imperialism 
inevitably leads to war. 9. Usually a nation endeavors to protect its 
citizens who are conducting business in weaker or less civilized countries 
(cf. § 512). What do you think of the morals of this policy? 10. Do 
nations consider themselves bound by the moral rules that govern 
individuals? Should they be so bound? 12. Compare Russian and 
German imperialism. 13. What is the value of Africa to the powers 
that have occupied that continent? 14. What are the benefits that 
Great Britain derives from her control of India? 15. What is the 
meaning of the statement, " Trade follows the flag? " Is it true? 
16. What is meant by the statement that a certain European power 
" wants a place in the sun? " 17. Bring together the facts relating to 
the break-up of the Turkish empire. What is the chief cause of the 
decline? 18. Compare the Boer war with the American revolution. 
19. If India were freed from British control, what would probably 
become of the country? 20. If the United States should liberate the 
Philippine Islands, would the inhabitants gain or lose thereby? 



CHAPTER XXX 

SOCIAL REFORM AND GENERAL PROGRESS 

I. The Factory System; its Evils and Their Remedies 

530. The Evils Described by an Eye- Witness. — Under the 
domestic system in vogue a century ago people lived and worked 
in their own homes in the country or in small towns (§ 462). 
The new machinery introduced by the industrial revolution, 
however, had to be housed in buildings erected for the purpose. 
Multitudes of families accordingly left the country to seek work 
in these factories and to take rooms in tenements built for them 
in the vicinity. In this way great industrial cities arose like 
mushrooms. In an economic change so rapid and on so large a 
scale a change in the condition of the 
individual worker took place unno- 
ticed ; it became almost unbeara- 
ble, and was only improved in the A Mine Worker 

COUrse of a Century-long Struggle. A woman dragging a loaded coal 

An eye-witness * gives us an cart - From the re P° rt of a com - 

r ... . .., mission, 1842. 

interesting picture of life in Man- 
chester, a great factory town, in the early thirties. " The 
population engaged in the cotton factories rises at five o'clock 
in the morning, works in the mills from six till eight o'clock, 
and returns home for half an hour or forty minutes to breakfast. 
This meal generally consists of tea or coffee with a little bread. 
The operatives return to the mills and workshops until twelve 
o'clock, when an hour is allowed for dinner. Amongst those 
who obtain the lower rate of wages this meal generally consists 
of boiled potatoes. This mess of potatoes is put into one large 
dish; melted lard and butter are poured upon them, and a 

1 Kay, Moral and Physical Condition of the Working Classes Employed in the Cotton 
Manufacture of Manchester, 20. 

- 2l 48i 



482 Factory System 

few pieces of fried fat bacon are sometimes mingled with them, 
and but seldom a little meat. The family sits around the 
table, and each rapidly appropriates his portion on a plate, 
or they will all plunge their spoons into the dish, and with an 
animal eagerness satisfy the cravings of their appetite. At 
the expiration of an hour they are all again employed in the 
mills, where they continue until seven o'clock or a later hour, 
when they generally indulge in the use of tea, often mingled 
with spirits, accompanied by a little bread. The population 
nourished on this aliment is crowded into one dense mass, in 
cottages separated by narrow, unpaved, and almost pestilential 
streets, in an atmosphere loaded with the smoke and exhalations- 
of a large manufacturing city." 

531. Further Evils. — Their working hours were spent in 
rooms poorly lighted and ventilated. These unsanitary con- 
ditions in home and factory caused a high rate of disease and 
death among the workers. The factory owners cannot be 
held entirely to account for this state of affairs, for this was an 
age when little regard was shown for the health of the public. 
Sewers, street paving and cleaning, and a supply of pure water 
and milk were products of a later age. At the same time the 
manufacturers failed to see that their permanent prosperity 
depended on the welfare of their workers. " Women and 
children were brought into the factories, because they were 
able to operate the new machines as well as could men, because 
they were easy to control, and because they could work for 
lower wages. The hours of labor were drawn out to fourteen, 
fifteen, even seventeen a day, because profits increased in pro- 
portion to output. Precautions in respect to safety and sani- 
tation were neglected, because they cost money, and there was 
nobody to require them to be exercised. Wages were kept 
low, because labor was plentiful. Mills too often became 
veritable prisons in which men, women, and children toiled 
long hours, relieved only by scant sleep in fetid and cheerless 
homes, working until work developed disease and deformity, 
and in many cases brought early death." 1 

1 Ogg, Social Progress in Contemporary Europe, 215-6. 



Evils of the System 483 

532. Abuse of Pauper Children; Public Indifference. — 

The most pitiful abuse of the factory system, however, was the 
employment of pauper children. It was the duty of the parish 
to care for these friendless creatures. Often, however, to re- 
duce expenses the authorities disposed of them as apprentices 
to the mills. Although the object was to teach them a trade, 
as a matter of fact it meant a life of slavery. They were en- 
tirely at the mercy of their masters. Overseers were paid in 
proportion to the amount of work they could extract from their 
victims. The result was a deplorable state of affairs. Meals 
were irregular. The food was indescribably wretched : water 
porridge for breakfast, bacon and turnips for dinner, bread 
and tea for supper. The sleeping accommodations were miser- 
able : the beds, often in the same room with the machinery, 
which ran day and night, were never cool or clean. The cruelty 
practised upon these unfortunate children was almost incredible. 
Little wonder that sickness and disease were common, and 
that frequent supplies of parish children were needed to fill the 
vacancies. 

These conditions were tolerated mainly because they had 
come in so rapidly as to escape the notice of the public. The 
old idea of regulation by the state had for the time being dis- 
appeared. People feared also that the government which by 
excessive interference had lost its American colonies (§ 419), 
could not deal successfully with this complex problem. It was 
an age, too, when the worker was told to bargain for his wages, 
and to go where he could obtain the highest pay. People did 
not reason that the employer was in a position to enforce what- 
ever terms he wished. 

533. Reform by Proprietors; by Legislation. — The actual 
work of reform was begun by manufacturers themselves, such 
as Robert Owen (born 1771), who were disgusted with condi- 
tions in their own mills. His first resolve was to employ no 
more parish children. Next he sought to make his factories 
light and airy, and the homes of the workers tidy and attractive. 
Saloons in the neighborhood were abolished, and schools were 
built for the children. His work proved to the world how 



484 Labor and Socialism 

much better people would be if their hours of labor were short- 
ened and if they were rid of evil associations. The work of 
reform, however, cut down profits ; and few mill owners were 
willing to follow in the footsteps of Owen. 

At last public opinion was aroused; reform was demanded 
in the pulpit, on the platform, in pamphlets, and in newspapers. 
A royal commission inquired into conditions. Its report led 
to the Factory Act of 1833, the first attempt of the govern- 
ment to protect working people from the kind of abuse de- 
scribed above. Children under thirteen were not to work 
more than forty-eight hours a week; those under eighteen, 
not more than sixty-nine. Night work was forbidden, holi- 
days were granted, and a certain amount of schooling was 
required. Traveling inspectors were to enforce these provisions. 
An act passed a decade later still further reduced the hours and 
regulated meals and sanitary conditions. Before the middle 
of the century women and children had secured a ten-hour 
day. Elsewhere we shall see how further legislation has 
aimed to make the lot of the worker happier and safer 

(§ 54o ff.). 

Wherever the industrial revolution has come, nations have 
had to deal with the same problems, and to a great extent 
they have solved them in the same way. 

II. The Labor Movement and Socialism 

534. Trades-Unions. — Early experience with the factory 
system, however, made it clear that neither employers nor the 
government would do much to improve the conditions of the 
workers. Reforms were granted slowly and grudgingly. On 
the other hand workers were quick to see the advantage of 
joining hands in a common cause, and those of the same trade 
accordingly formed local clubs. As this movement spread, 
the clubs came closer together, forming nation-wide unions of 
workers in the same trade. Their meetings were secret, for 
as late as 1824 it was a criminal offence, in fact a conspiracy, 
to combine for raising wages. For another half century trades- 



Labor Movement 485 

unions were regarded with suspicion not only by employers 
but by the general public. Their chief weapon has been the 
strike : the men decide on the hours of work and the wages 
they consider just, and vote to quit work until their terms are 
complied with. While idle the men are supported by funds 
belonging to the union. In most cases they win a partial 
victory, and sometimes their success is complete. This is so 
often the result because the employer, who cares little for losing 
the services of a few men, suffers severe financial loss when 
all his hands quit work. 

Trade-unionism has attained the highest importance in 
Great Britain and the United States. Recently in the former 
country it has entered politics and now has enough seats in 
parliament to secure desired legislation. As a rule American 
trades-unions are content with recommending men known to 
be favorable to their program. In most European states labor 
is well organized but is less concerned with hours and wages. 
It is more interested in questions affecting the social welfare 
of the laboring classes. In most cases it has identified itself 
with socialism (§ 537 f.), and has become a powerful political 
factor. 

535- Cooperative Societies. — Workers have also found it 
advantageous to cooperate in other ways, particularly in pur- 
chasing food and clothing. As early as 1844 twenty-eight 
weavers, inspired by the teachings of Robert Owen, clubbed 
together to purchase sugar and flour at wholesale rates. The 
experiment was so successful that the Rochdale Society, as 
this organization is known, now has 15,000 members, and 
does a business of over a million dollars annually. Like other 
firms, it owns its buildings and grounds, and employs its ex- 
pert buyers and clerks. Regularly the profits are distributed 
among the members according to the amounts of their purchase. 
Cheered by this success, hundreds of other such societies have 
been formed not only in Great Britain but over all the Continent, 
many of which receive aid from the government. This co- 
operative movement is represented in America by the Granges, 
which are associations of farmers for buying their raw materials 



486 Labor and Socialism 

in large quantities at wholesale prices. The immense volume 
of business conducted by cooperative societies has served to 
cut the profits of the middleman and so to reduce the cost of 
the necessities of life. In this way people are able to live better 
and at less expense. 

536. Dawning Friendship between Capital and Labor; the 
Two Classes. — During the past two decades a better feeling 
has grown up between capital and labor, between employer and 
employe. The former finds that continual strikes are a serious 
detriment to his business ; in spite of aid from his union the 
latter has come to fear long periods of idleness. In many cases 
arbitration has been successful in averting strikes. It is to 
the interest of both to create as fine a product as possible. The 
far-seeing employer does his part by providing a light, airy 
factory for his workers, and by sharing with them his profits 
through the adjustment of hours and wages. The employe in 
exchange should devote his best efforts to his work. It must 
be admitted, however, that little progress has as yet been 
made toward this happy condition. 

Whereas the French Revolution practically abolished dis- 
tinctions of social rank, the industrial revolution brought in its 
train a new division of classes not based on family or tradition. 
First were the capitalists, who owned the raw material and 
the machinery. They hired men, from one to a thousand or 
more, to make the finished products which they wished to sell. 
The other class comprised the wage-earners, who devoted their 
lives to making such wares. As industry grew, the wealth 
and prosperity of the capitalists increased. At the same time 
wages rose little or not at all and working conditions were 
indescribably bad. 

537. Origin and Theory of Socialism. — As the gap between 
the classes continued to widen, the wage-earner was not slow 
in comparing his unhappy lot with the good fortune of his 
employer. In the great factory he had lost his individuality 
and had become a mere number. It must be remembered that 
in those early days the government believed in leaving these 
conditions to shift for themselves. The environment thus 



Socialism 487 

created gave birth to Socialism. 1 This movement was a pro- 
test against suffering, misery, and injustice. It demanded the 
right to live fully, joyfully, and in comfort. It is hardly pos- 
sible to define a creed which varies so widely in details among 
its members in different parts of the world. From its begin- 
ning, however, it has always attacked the weak point of the 
social order — poverty, which it regards as standing in the 
way of progress. All socialists, too, believe that want is caused 
by our system which permits the employer to make and keep 
all the profits. At the same time it permits him to hire his 
labor at the lowest possible cost — usually a mere living wage. 
In this case the socialist feels that liberty merely affords an 
opportunity for the powerful to exploit the weak. 

Socialists, then, demand that these evils be abolished. In- 
stead of competing against one another, men should cooperate.' 
In the new system private utilities will disappear and become 
the common possession of all — in brief , will be owned and con- 
trolled by the state. Necessarily the people are to retain the 
control of the government. The keynote of this new state will 
be work, not property. Socialism maintains that if each person 
works at some useful occupation, the drudgery of the world 
can be finished in a few hours daily ; and the rest of the time 
may be used for relaxation, recreation, and self -improvement. 

538. Earlier Methods of Socialism. — The great problem 
was to bring about this state of affairs. The early socialists 
were dreamers, humanitarians. One of their number, Robert 
Owen (§ 533), planned communities each with about one 
thousand people, all self-supporting. Each family would re- 
ceive its own apartment in an enormous tenement accommodat- 
ing all. The kitchen and dining room were to be in common. 
Work and leisure were planned for all the inmates. Many 
such colonies were founded — a splendid one at New Har- 
mony, Indiana. It was felt that others would imitate this 
model, until the world would be'made up of such communities. 
For various reasons, however, they proved unsuccessful, and 

1 There have been socialists from ancient Greek times, but we may say that 
modern socialism began with the French Revolution. 



488 Labor and Socialism 

gradually disappeared. The time was not yet ripe for trusting 
entirely to the goodness of human nature. 

In an age of revolution, however, it could hardly be expected 
that tremendous changes could be peacefully brought about. 
The chief advocate of aggression was Karl Marx, a German Jew 
(1818-1883). His work, Capital, is the textbook of socialism. 
His influence, too, inspired the feeling among workingmen 
that they must save themselves from slavery by class war and 
revolution. During the years 1 848-1 850, accordingly, the work- 
ing classes joined with others to secure that share in the govern- 
ment which the middle class had usurped. In consequence 
France, Germany, Austria, and Italy were rudely awakened 
from the new absolutism into which they had fallen. 

539. Recent Socialism. — Since that time all but a few 
socialists have abandoned the policy of violence in every country 
of Europe. 1 Instead, they have entered politics, in the belief 
that " the power of the ballot is infinitely greater than the 
power of the bullet, provided it is followed up with common 
sense and energy." 2 They have entered parliament, and in 
some cases they are in the majority; a few have even won 
places in cabinets. From dreamers they have become prac- 
tical men determined to bring about reforms in a rational way. 
This new movement is called Social Democracy. 

Throughout its activities in Europe socialism has been an 
efficient helpmate to democracy. It has created the labor 
parties which have forced governments to legislate their de- 
mands : not only to secure shorter hours and better pay for 
workers, but to deal constructively with such problems as the 
death-rate of infants, the high cost of living, the feeding of 
school children, and non-employment. 

III. The New Democracy 

540. New Character of the State ; its Duty toward Children. 

— As a result of these new duties the power of the state has 

1 The principle of violence in the labor movement is now called syndicalism, and is 
represented by the Industrial Workers of the World, an international organization. 

2 Orth, Socialism and Democracy in Europe, 256. 



Children 489 

been greatly increased ; it has now become the friend as well 
as the ruler of its members; it has become the protector of 
people as well as of property. Let us see, for example, what 
has been accomplished in England. Many new privileges have 
been granted to trades-unions and their members (1906). 
They are allowed reasonable liberty, for instance, in the matter 
of picketing during strikes. A still more important feature 
has been the increased interest shown in the welfare of children. 
It was Premier Asquith who said, " There is nothing that calls 
so loudly or so imperiously as the possibilities of social re- 
form. . . . First of all there is the child for whom heredity 
and parental care have perhaps done nothing or worse than 
nothing. And yet it is the raw material upon the fashioning 
of which depends whether it shall add to the common stock of 
wealth and intelligence and goodness, or whether it shall be 
cast aside as a waste product in the social rubbish heap." 

541. Improvements in the Condition of Children. — It is 
strange that in England prior to the seventies the state took 
little interest in education. Since then various acts have 
made education compulsory for all children ; its cost has risen 
from £721,000 in 1870 to £25,000,000 in 1907. During the last 
decade arrangements have been made to furnish meals for 
needy children in the elementary schools. Play centres and 
free medical inspection, too, are provided for. The Children 
Act (1908) protects small children from drunkenness, negligence, 
and cruelty. Courts have been established to rescue rather 
than to punish juvenile offenders. At the same time the 
parent " must be made to feel more responsible for the wrong- 
doing of his child. He cannot be allowed to neglect the up- 
bringing of his children, and having committed the grave 
offence of throwing on society a child criminal, wash his hands 
of the consequences and escape scot-free." 1 Not only Eng- 
land but other countries have carried out other features tending 
to make better citizens of the coming generation. " Children 
in all schools and factories should periodically be weighed and 
measured; overcrowding should be dealt with in the worst 

1 Mr. Herbert Samuel, Commons, Feb. 10, igo8. 



49° New Democracy 

districts by fixing a standard of persons per room in tenements 
not to be exceeded. . . . Special attention should be paid to 
milk supply, and standards fixed to check the adulteration of 
all foods ; provision should be made by the local authorities 
for dealing with underfed children ; hygiene and the effects of 
alcoholism should be well taught in schools, and compulsory 
classes urged ; cleanliness should be pressed upon the children, 
notably as to teeth, eyes, and ears ; attention should be paid 
to children's games, and boys' and girls' clubs, and juvenile 
smoking suppressed." 1 

542. Tenements and Workingmen's Dwellings. — We have 
seen how the factory system brought in its train huge cities 
with their ugly tenements constructed as cheaply as possible 
without regard to comfort or beauty, or the health of their 
occupants. The filth and overcrowding bred drunkenness, 
pauperism, crime, physical degeneration, and a high death- 
rate. It was finally recognized that " to deal with the problem 
several steps must be taken. In the first place, the slums and 
older unsanitary dwellings in the heart of the town must be 
removed, and the newer tenements must be constructed with 
an eye to health, comfort, and beauty. Open spaces, parks, 
places for real sunlight, playgrounds, and recreation centres 
must be provided. Then, in the second place, there must be 
adequate control of urban growth, so'that as the town stretches 
out into the country the workingmen's dwellings may not be 
dreary, monotonous piles of brick, but pleasant cottages amply 
relieved by trees and shrubs and grass." 2 Cities all over the 
world have made it a matter of pride as well as expediency to 
bring about such conditions. 

543. The Protection of Unskilled Laborers. — Although 
skilled laborers, both men and women, have gradually formed 
unions which protect their interests, there remain without this 
pale a large army of unskilled workers, who form the prey of 
unscrupulous employers. They are often forced to work ex- 
cessive hours under unsanitary conditions in return for unduly 
low pay. The English Trade Boards Act (1909) attempted 

1 Annual Register, 1904, p. 195. 2 Hayes, British Social Politics, 264. 



Workingmen 491 

to solve the problem by establishing a minimum wage and 
punishment for offending employers. The difficulties of en- 
forcing such a provision, however, have not yet been overcome ; 
and the problem of " sweated " labor is as yet unsolved. 

544. Various Improvements for Workingmen. — Other laws 
have been passed to protect the workingman from accident, 
from loss of employment, and from poverty in old age. In 
these endeavors Germany has taken several steps in advance 
of the rest of the world. " Here a workingman may begin 
life attended by a physician paid by the state ; he is christened 
by a state clergyman ; he is taught the rudiments of learning 
and his handicraft by the state. He begins work under the 
watchful eye of a state inspector, who sees that the safeguards 
to health and limb are strictly observed. He is drafted by 
the state into the army, and returns from the rigor of this 
discipline to his work. The state gives him a license to marry, 
registers his place of residence, follows him from place to place, 
and registers the birth of his children. If he falls ill, his suffer- 
ing is assuaged by the knowledge that his wife and children 
are cared for and that his expenses will be paid during illness ; 
and he may spend his convalescent days in a luxurious state 
hospital. If he falls victim to an accident, the dread of work- 
lessness is removed by the ample insurance commanded by 
the state even if his injury permanently incapacitates him. If 
he should unfortunately become that most pitiful of all men, 
the man out of work, the state and city will do all in their 
power to find work for him. . . . And if by rare chance 
through the grace of the state's strict sanitary regulations, and 
by thrift and care, he reaches the age of seventy, he will find 
the closing days of his long life eased by a pension, small, very 
small, to be sure, but yet enough to make him more welcome 
to the relatives or friends who are charged with administering 
to his wants." 1 

545. Democratic Taxation; Public Ownership of Public 
Utilities. — These varied activities are expensive and mean 
increased taxes. The problem of budget makers has been to 

1 Orth, Socialism and Democracy in Europe, 169-170. 



492 



New Democracy 



place this new burden on the luxuries of life and so on the 
shoulders which can best bear it. The income tax and the 
tax on unearned increment 1 are brought into use for this 
purpose. 

In most European countries the state owns and controls the 
railroads, the canals,, the telephones, telegraphs, savings banks 




Concourse 

In the Pennsylvania Station, New York City. From a photograph lent by the 
Pennsylvania Railway Company. 



and insurance. Many cities in America and England own their 
electric light and gas plants, their water supply, their street 
cars, and their markets. In many cases these utilities not 
only serve the public cheaply and efficiently, but turn in a 
balance every year to help pay the expenses of government. 

1 Unearned increment is any increase in the value of an estate through no labor 
or outlay of the owner. 



Electricity 



493 



IV. Some Features of Modern Progress 

546. Electricity. — On the whole, then, the past fifty years 
have been marked by general progress. The work of invention, 
which preceded the industrial revolution, has been carried on 
with ever-increasing brilliancy. Probably the most important 
feature of the present age has been the marvellous develop- 
ment of electricity. Through the genius of men like Bell, 
Morse, Marconi, and Edison, this new force has found many 
practical uses. The telephone, at first a luxury, has become a 
necessity in the busi- 
ness and social life 
of the world. The 
telegraph and cable 
flash news quickly 
and cheaply over all 
parts of the world. 
Brilliant electric 
lights have taken 
the place of the 
flickering gas-lamps 
of half a century 
ago; not only do 
they make the 
streets more attrac- 
tive, but they serve 
to reduce crime. Street cars, elevated and subway lines are 
practically all operated by electricity. Many railroads, too, 
have substituted for steam this means of locomotion, which is 
cleaner, quicker, and more comfortable. Electricity has made 
possible the use of the X-ray which is of immense value to 
surgery. The most ingenious device of all, though still in its 
infancy, is without doubt the wireless telegraph. It uses the 
ether to carry our messages — even if sender and receiver are 
thousands of miles apart. Up to the present its chief use has 
been to promote safety at sea — the SOS, the signal of a ship 
in distress, seldom fails to bring as rescuer some near-by ship. 




A Motor Lifeboat 

Of the Aquitania, Cunard Line, increasing the safety 
of travel by sea. From a photograph supplied by 
the Cunard Company. 



494 



Modern Progress 



547. Airships and Automobiles. — Another striking feature 
of modern invention has been the conquest of the air. The 
balloon of the mid-century, ever at the mercy of a strong wind, 
was a dangerous toy. The modern airplane and airship, 
driven by their own propellors, can ride against the wind with 
comparative safety.. So far the airship has been chiefly of use 
for military purposes, though in time it undoubtedly will be 
made to serve the uses of peace. 

The same period has witnessed the development of another 
new means of locomotion — the automobile. It has passed 
through its stage of experimentation until it is now mechanically 




The First Airplane 

The first to carry a man and to be operated by motor-power; constructed by the 
Wright brothers, Americans, 1903. From the 'Mentor.' 

perfect. Year by year, too, its cost has been reduced until it 
is now possible for every family of moderate means to own 
and operate a car. In business the truck — electric as well as 
gasoline — has supplanted the horse as a quick, cheap, and 
efficient means of hauling goods over both long and short 
distances. 

548. Agriculture. — The factory system has brought about a 
great change in agriculture. The rapid growth of the cities 
and increase in population have demanded more and more 
foodstuffs — a demand which the small farmer alone could 
no longer supply. In the present age the small farmer often 



Agriculture 



495 



confines himself to raising vegetables, or such fruit as apples, 
strawberries, peaches, and grapes, for the near-by markets. 
Agriculture, however, like other industries, is more profitably- 
operated on a large scale. By such means our vast wheat 
fields furnish not only us but a large part of Europe with bread. 
Some wheat farms measure from 70,000 to 90,000 acres. " Near 
the town of Clovis, Fresno County, California, is a wheat field 
containing forty square miles. As the ground lies almost in 
an exact square, it presents in the season just before harvest 
the appearance of an endless sea of waving grain. This is the 
sort of wheat field of which the statement has been made that 
the men and teams breakfast at one end of the furrow, take 




A Steam Plow 

Three 'Mogul' Tractors drawing a combination of 55 individual plows. From 
'International Harvester Report,' 191 1. 



dinner at the other end, and return at night to the point of 
starting. If a single man were to undertake to plough such a 
field in the old-fashioned way, it would require sixteen years 
for him to complete his spring plowing, as much longer to do 
the harrowing, and if he were fortunate, he might finish sowing 
the seed before he died ; but though the preparing and sowing 
would occupy one man's lifetime, 300 modern steam harvesters 
and threshers can make comparatively short work of the harvest 
in even an enormous field such as this." : Human ingenuity, 
then, has devised machines, operated for the most part by 
steam or electricity, which aim to accomplish as much work 
as possible with the help of the fewest number of men. Plant- 

1 Cochrane, Modem Industrial Progress, 209. 



496 



Modern Progress 



ing, cultivating, and reaping machines accordingly are a neces- 
sary equipment of the modern farm. Through the telephone 
and the motor truck, too, the farmer has become as much a 
business man as the merchant. 

549. New Conveniences and Amusements. — Whole books 
have been written on modern engineering achievements — the 
building of dams, bridges, and canals — and on improvements 




The Mixing Room 

In Ward's Bakery, illustrating the hygienic mixing of dough, wholly by machinery. 
From a photograph lent by the Ward Company. 



in manufacturing of all kinds. Without doubt the growth of 
newspapers and periodicals has had the greatest influence on the 
daily life of the nation at large. Through them the poorest 
person is able for one cent a day to keep in touch with the 
general news and politics of the entire world. Machines have 
been invented for the amusement of the poor as well as of the 
rich. The phonograph makes it possible for its owner and 



Better Living 



497 



friends to hear in their own homes at a nominal cost either 
grand opera or ragtime, performed by capable artists. Or for 
five or ten cents one may see the world's greatest dramas por- 
trayed on the screen. The 
moving picture entertains, 
amuses, and instructs mil- 
lions who know little other 
recreation. 

550. A Higher Standard 
of Living. — The last half 
century therefore has wit- 
nessed an increase in 
wages, a decrease in the 
hours of work, and an 
improvement in the con- 
ditions of labor. In short 
the standard of living has 
materially risen. More 
families than ever before 
live active, happy lives. 
Each individual to-day 
consumes more meat, 
butter, and wheat flour, 
and wears more clothing 
than his grandfather did. 




An Observation Car 

From a photograph supplied by the New York 
Central Railway Company. 



He is more fortunate, too, in being 
able to enjoy such luxuries as coffee, tea, and sugar. House- 
keeping is made easier by gas, electricity, and the telephone, 
thus' allowing more time for the care of children, for reading 
and recreation. In brief, working people of to-day travel more, 
read more, and enjoy more comforts, conveniences, and luxuries, 
than ever before in the history of the world. 

Topics for Reading 

I. Improved Transportation. — Hadley and others, The Nineteenth 
Century, 431-66; Cochrane, Modern Industrial Progress, see Con- 
tents. 

II. The Labor Movement. — Slater, Making of Modem England, 
ch. xxi ; Ogg, Social Progress in Contemporary Europe, chs. xv-xx; 

2K 



498 Modern Progress 

Orth, Socialism and Democracy in Europe, especially chs. vi-ix ; Hayes, 
British Social Politics, see Contents. 

III. Municipal Progress. — Slater, ch. viii (early nineteenth cen- 
tury) ; Goodnow, City Government in the United States, see Contents ; 
Zueblin, American Municipal Progress, see Contents. 

IV. Care of the Poor. — Ogg, ch. xvi; Addams, Democracy and 
Social Ethics, especially chs. ii, v ; Hayes, see Contents. 

V. Recent Industrial Development. — Innes, England's Industrial 
Development, ch. xxix ; Warner, Landmarks of English Industrial His- 
tory, chs. xvii, xviii ; Ogg, ch. xx. 

Review 

1. What changes in the residence of laborers resulted from the in- 
dustrial revolution? Describe the daily life of the workers at Man- 
chester. 2. Describe the sanitary condition of homes and factories. 
What criticism may be made on the wages and on the length of the 
working day? 3. Describe the employment of pauper children in the 
factories. Why were such conditions endured? 4. What reforms 
were introduced by proprietors? What reforms were effected by legis- 
lation? 5. Describe the origin and growth of trades-unions. By what 
means did they attempt to secure more rights for labor? 6. What 

are cooperative societies? Why and how were they formed? What 
is the Grange? 7. Describe the varying relations between capitalists 
and their workmen. How did these two classes arise? 8. What was 
the origin of socialism? What are its principles? 9. What were its 
original methods? What plan of cooperation was devised? Who 
was Karl Marx, and what were his principles? 10. What are the recent 
aims and methods of socialism ? What has it accomplished ? n. What 
new and enlarged character has the State assumed? Illustrate by its 
attitude toward children. 12. In what way has the condition of 
children been made better? 13. What has been the condition of tene- 
ments, and how are they being improved? What remains to be done 
in cities for the comfort and health of the poor? 14. What is the 
problem relating to unskilled laborers? What was done for this class 
in England? 15. What has Germany accomplished for the working 
classes? 16. What changes in taxation have been made with a view to 
distributing equitably the burden of supporting the government? 
Give examples of public ownership of public utilities. 17. Enumerate 
the improvements due to electricity. 18. Describe the latest develop- 
ments of airships and of automobiles. 19. What improvements has 
machinery brought into agriculture ? Compare the new with the old 
method. 20. What other conveniences and what recreations have 
resulted from the use of machinery ? 2 1 . In what respects is the stand- 
ard of living higher to-day than it has ever been in the past ? 



Studies 499 



Additional Studies 

i. Review the industrial revolution (ch. xxvii) and show how it con- 
nects with § 530. 2. Are there factories in your vicinity? If so, 
visit them and report on the cleanliness of the rooms and the condition 
of the workers. Visit some of the homes of the workers and report on 
their condition. 3. Are there filthy streets in your city ? If so, appoint 
a committee to draw up a petition to the Mayor to have them cleaned, 
sign it and send it to him. 4. What is the length of the working day 
in your neighborhood? Is it established by law or by the trades- 
unions? 5. The Adamson law of 1916 established an eight-hour day 
for a large class of railway employes. If you live near a railway, ascer- 
tain how it is being carried out. 6. What is the Child-Labor Law of 
191 6? Is it in operation in your community? 7. What are the 
trades-unions of your neighborhood? 8. Ascertain from the members 
how they are organized and what are their aims. 9. In like manner 
study a Grange or other cooperative society in your vicinity, and find 
out what good it is doing. 10. If you have an opportunity to talk with 
a socialist, ask him for his views regarding capital, labor, and such 
matters, and what his reasons are for these views. 1 1 . Read the news- 
papers and find what the Governor and the President are aiming to do 
for the improvement of the state or of the nation. 12. What laws 
are the state legislature and congress discussing or passing, and which 
of these statutes are for the social or economic benefit of the public? 
13. Does your city own any public utility ? If so, how does the system 
work? 14. What are some of the facilities, recreations, or amusements 
of your neighborhood which are due to machinery but are not mentioned 
in this book ? 



USEFUL BOOKS 

The Smallest Library 
Abram, A., English Life and Manners in the Later Middle Ages. Dutton, 

I9I3- 

Botsford, G. W., History of the Ancient World. Macmillan, 1911. 
Botsford, G. W. and L. S., Source Book of Ancient History. Macmillan, 

1912. 
Clodd, E., Childhood of the World (2d ed.). Macmillan, 1914. 
Cunningham, ~W., An Essay on Western Civilisation in its Economic Aspects, 

2 vols. Cambridge: University Press, 1898. 
Eggleston, G. C, Life in the Eighteenth Century. Barnes, 1905. 
Enock, C. R., The Republics of Central and South America. London : Dent, 

1913. 

Glover, T. R., Conflict of Religions in the Early Roman Empire (4th ed.). 

London : Methuen, 1910. 
Green, J. R., Short History of the English People (new ed.). London: 

Dent, 1915. 
Hayes, C. J. H., Political and Social History of Modem Europe, 2 vols. 

Macmillan, 1916. 
Innes, A. D., England's Industrial Development. London : Rivington, 1912. 
Mathews, S., The French Revolution. Longmans, 1914. 
Morris, H. C. History of Colonization, 2 vols. Macmillan, 1900. 
Munro, D. C. and Sellery, Mediaeval Civilization. Century, 1904. 
Muzzey, D. S., An American History. Ginn, 191 1. 
Ogg, F. A., Social Progress in Contemporary Europe. Macmillan, 19 15. 
Reinsch, P. S., Word Politics at the End of the Nineteenth Century. Mac- 
millan, 1900. 
Robinson, J. H., Readings in European History, 2 vols. Ginn, 1904-6. 
Scaife, W. B., Florentine Life During the Renaissance. Johns Hopkins 

Press, 1893. 
Schapiro, J. S., Social Reform and the Reformation. Columbia University 

Dissertation, 1909. 
Shepherd, W. R., Historical Atlas. Holt, 191 1. 

, Latin America. Holt, 1914. 

Slater, G., The Making of Modern England. Houghton, MifHin, 1915. 
Tucker, T. G., Life in the Roman World of Nero and St. Paul. Macmillan, 

1910. 

, Life in Ancient Athens. Macmillan, 1906. 

Webster, W. C, General History of Commerce. Ginn, 1903. 

Zimmern, A. E., Greek Commonwealth; Politics and Economics in the Fifth 

Century. Clarendon Press, 191 1. 

500 



Useful Books 501 



A Larger Library 

The books mentioned above, and the following : — 
Abbott, F. F., History and Description of Roman Political Institutions. 

Ginn, 1901. 

, Society and Politics in Ancient Rome. Scribner, 1909. 

Adams, G. B. Civilization during the Middle Ages. Scribner, 1898. 

Addams, Democracy and Social Ethics. Macmillan, 1902. 

Allinson, F. G. and A. E. C, Greek Lands and Letters. Houghton, Mifflin, 

1909. 
Andrews, C. M., Colonial Self -Government. Harper, 1904. 
Arnold, W. T., Roman System of Provincial Administration. Ma. cmill a.Ti, 

1906. 
Barber, F. M., Mechanical Triumphs of the Ancient Egyptians. London : 

Kegan Paul, 1900. 
Baudrillart, A., The Catholic Church, the Renaissance, and Protestantism. 

Longmans, 1908. 
Beard, C, The Reformation of the Sixteenth Century (5th ed.). London: 

Norgate, 1907. 
Bedford,, J., Home Life Under the Stuarts. Dutton, 1904. 
Bernhardi, F., von, Germany and the Next War (4th ed.). London : Arnold, 

1914.^ 
Botsford,'G. W., History of Rome. Macmillan, 1901. 

, Hellenic History (in preparation). Macmillan. 

Botsford, G. W. and Sihler, E. G., Hellenic Civilization. Columbia Univer- 
sity Press, 191 5. 
Bracq, J. C, France Under the Republic (new ed.). Scribner, 1916. 
Breasted, J. H, Ancient Times (valuable for Oriental history). Ginn, 1916. 
, History of the Ancient Egyptians (abridged from his larger work). 

Scribner, 1908. 
Biilow, B., von, Imperial Germany. Dodd, Mead, 1914. 
Bury, J. B., Constitution of the Later Roman Empire. Cambridge University 

Press, 1910. 

, History of Greece. Macmillan, 19 13. 

Byrn, E. W., The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century. Munn, 

1900. 
Cambridge Modern History, 14 vols, including Atlas. Macmillan, 1903-12. 
Carter, J. B., Religious Life of Ancient Rome. Houghton, Mifflin, 191 1. 
Cheyney, E. P. An Introduction to the Industrial and Social History of 

England. Macmillan, 1901. 

, European Background of American History. Harper, 1904. 

Cochrane, C. H, Modern Industrial Progress. Lippincott, 1904. 
Collier, P., The West in the East. Scribner, 1912. 
Commons, J. R., Trade Unionism and Labor Problems. Ginn, 1905. 
Crawford, M. C, Social Life in old New England. Little, Brown, 1914. 



5<D2 Useful Books 

Cross, A. L., History of England and Greater Britain. Macmillan, 1914. 

Davis, H. W. C, Mediceval Europe. Holt, 191 1. 

Day, C. A., History of Commerce (new ed.). Longmans, 1914. 

Douglas, R. K., Europe and the Far East, 1506-1912. Cambridge Univer- 
sity Press, 1 9 13. 

Erman, A., Life in Ancient Egypt. Macmillan, 1894. 

Fairbanks, A., Mythology of Greece and Rome. Appleton, 1907. 

Fisher, H. A. L., Napoleon. Holt, 1913. 

Fowler, W. W., Social Life in Rome in the Age of Cicero. Macmillan, 1909. 

Frank, T., Roman Imperialism. Macmillan, 1914. 

Gardiner, E. N., Greek Athletic Sports and Festivals. Macmillan, 1910. 

Gibbins, H. de B., Industry in England (9th ed.)- Scribner, 1916. 

Giles, H. A., The Civilization of China. Holt, 191 1. 

Hart, A. B., Source-Book of American History. Macmillan, 1900. 

Hawes, C. H. and H, Crete the Forerunner of Greece. Harper, 1909. 

Hayes, C. J. H., 'British Social Politics. Ginn, 1913. 

Hazen, C. D., Europe since 1815. Holt, 1910. 

Hill, D. J., Americanism. Appleton, 1916. 

Hobson, J. A., Evolution of Modern Capitalism (new ed.). Scribner, 191 2. 

Holland, R. S., Builders of United Italy. Holt, 1908. 

Howard, E. D., The Cause and Extent of the Recent Industrial Progress of 
Germany. Houghton, Mifflin, 1907. 

Howe, F. C, The Modern City and its Problems. Scribner, 1915. 

Howe, S. E., A Thousand Years of Russian History. London : Williams, 

i9!5- 
Hutchins, B. L. and Harrison, A., A History of Factory Legislation (2d ed.). 

London: King, 1911. 
Jastrow, M., Jr., The Civilization of Babylonia and Assyria. Lippincott. 
Johnston, H. H., A History of the Colonization of Africa by Alien Races 

(new ed.). Cambridge University Press, 1913. 
Johnston, R. M., The French Revolution (brief and clear). Holt, 1909. 
Kendall, E. K., Source-Book of English History. Macmillan, 1900. 
Kent, C. F., History of the Hebrew People (12th ed.). Scribner, 1912. 
Kirkup, T., A History of Socialism (5th ed.). London: Black, 1913. 
Knox, G. W., Japanese Life in Town and Country. Putnam, 1904. 
Lacroix, P., Manners, Customs, and Dress during the Middle Ages and 

during the Renaissance Period. Appleton, 1874. 
Lea, H., The Day of the Saxon. Harper, 191 2. 

Lichtenberger, H, Germany and its Evolution in Modern Times. Holt, 1913. 
Lindsay, T. M., A History of the Reformation, 2 vols., 3d ed. Scribner, 1913. 
Lippmann, W., The Stakes of Diplomacy. Holt, 1915. 
Lowell, E. J., The Eve of the French Revolution. Houghton, Mifflin, 1892. 
Luchaire, A., Social France at the Time of Philip Augustus. Holt, 1912. 
Macgregor, D. H., The Evolution of Industry. Holt, 1912. 
Mackail, J. W., Latin Literature. Scribner, 1900. 



Useful Books 503 

Marmery, J. V., Progress of Science. London : Chapman and Hall, 1895. 

Mason, O. T., The Origins of Invention. Scribner, 1910. 

Maule, H. E., The Boy's Book of New Inventions. Doubleday, Page, 191 2. 

Murray, G., History of Ancient Greek Literature. Appleton, 1897. 

Ogg, F. A., A Source-Book of Mediceval History. American Book, 1907. 

Orth, S. P., Imperial Impulse. Century, 1916. 

, Socialism and Democracy in Europe. Holt, 1913. 

Osborn, H. F., Men of the Old Stone Age (4th ed.). Scribner, 1916. 

Pollard, A. F., Factors in Modern History. Putnam, 1907. 

Perris, G. H., A Short History of War and Peace. Holt, 1911. 

Pigou, A. C, Unemployment. Holt, 1914. 

Rashdall, H., The Universities of Europe in the Middle Ages, 2 vols. Oxford : 

Clarendon Press, 1895. 
Reinach, S., Apollo (new ed.). Scribner, 1913. 
Reinsch, P. S., Colonial Administration. Macmillan, 1905. 
Robinson, J. H. and Beard, C. A., Outlines of European History, 2 vols. 

Ginn, 1916. 
Robinson, J. H. and Rolfe, H. W., Petrarch (2d ed.). Putnam, 1914. 
Ross, E. A., The Changing Chinese. Century, 191 1. 
Saintsbury, G., Short History of English Literature. Macmillan, 1915. 
Sayce, A. H., Social Life Among the Assyrians and Babylonians. Revell, 

1893. 

, Babylonians and Assyrians: Life and Customs. Scribner, 1909. 

Simkhovitch, V. G., Marxism versus Socialism. Holt, 19 13. 

Smith, M., Bismarck and German Unity (2d ed.). Columbia University 

Press, 1910. 
Spargo, J., Socialism (new ed.). Macmillan, 1910. 

, Elements of Socialism. Macmillan, 191 2. 

Stone, J. M., Reformation and Renaissance. Dutton, 1904. 

Synge, M. B., A Book of Discovery. Putnam, 1913. 

Taylor, H. O., The Medieval Mind, 2 vols. (2d ed.). Macmillan, 1914. 

Taylor, R. W. C, Modern Factory System. London, Methuen, 1894. 

Tickner, F. W., A Social and Industrial History of England. Longmans, 

1916. 
Walling, W. E., The Larger Aspects of Socialism. Macmillan, 1913. 
Zueblin, Ch., American Municipal Progress. Macmillan, 1916. 



INDEX 



(The numbers refer to the pages. Abbreviations: cent. = century; f. = and 
the following; Gt. = Great; ill. = illustration; n. = note; U. S. = United 
States.) 



Abolition Movement, 444 f. 

A-crop'o-lis, 61. 

Act of Supremacy, 328. 

jE-ge'an Sea, region of, 6 f. ; inhabit- 
ants, 31 ff. 

^Es-cu-la 'pi-us, 107. 

Af-ghan-i-stan', 457. 

Af'ri-ca, colonization of, by Dutch, 
454, 456 f . ; by English, 454, 455-7 ; 
exploration and partition of, 455 f., 
464-8; Gt. Britain in, 467 f. ; Ger- 
many in, 464 f . ; France, 465 f . ; 
Italy, 466; Belgium, 466 f. ; other 
countries, 464. 

Agriculture, modern, 2, '494—6 ; Egyp- 
tian, 12; Greek, 36, 57; Roman, 
88, 129 f. ; on manor, 207 f. ; English, 
257—62, 331, 344—6; Portuguese, 
269; Spanish, 273— 5, 282— 4; German, 
289 f. ; French, 312—4, 392—5, 401, 
406; in English America, 363 f . ; 
in French America, 370; in Latin 
America, 436 f. ; in United States, 
441 f., 446 f. 

Aids, feudal, 177. 

Airplane, airship, 494. 

A-las'ka, ceded to U. S., 441, n. 

Al-bu-quer 'que, 273. 

Alchemy, 211. 

Al-ex-an'der, of Macedon, 80 f. 

Al-ex-an'dri-a, 81 fl., 227 f. 

Al-ge'ri-a, French conquest of, 456. 

Alien residents at Athens, 55 f. 

Alphabet, see Writing. 

Al-sace', acquired by France, 306 ; ceded 
to Germany, 431. 

A-mer'i-ca, discovery of, 277 f . ; Spanish 
conquests in, 278—84 ; English coloni- 
zation in, 361— 9 ; see also United 



States. For South America, see next 
item. 

America, Latin, independence of, 434 f., 
455 ; population, 435 ; politics, 435 f . ; 
character, 436; rural economy, 436 
f. ; industries, 437 f.; future, 438. 

Am'mon, temple of, 18 f. 

Amusements, Roman, 120; Florentine, 
237 f., 242; German, 290 f. ; Puritan, 
348; English, 350 f. ; American colo- 
nial, 369; Russian, 387; present, 
496 f. 

An'gles, 149. 

Anglican, see Episcopalian. 

A-pol'lo, oracle of, 47 ; Belvedere, 84 
(ill.), 85. 

Apostles, 154 f. 

Ap'pi-an Aqueduct and Way, 109. 

Ap 'pi-us Clau'di-us, 109. 

A-qui'nas, 212. 

Arbitration, of labor problems, 448; 
of international disputes, 460 f. 

Ar-chi-me'des, 82. 

Architecture, Egyptian, 17-20; Baby- 
lonian, 23; Minoan, 31 f.; Athenian, 
67 f . ; Roman, 108 f . ; under Charle- 
magne, 172; Saracen, 192; Gothic, 
214—6; in Renaissance, 240 f., 245 f. ; 
Moorish, 274; Elizabethan, 336 
(ill.) ; American colonial, 363 (ill.) ; 
French, 378, 379 (ill.). 

Ar-gen-ti'na, 434- 8. 

A'ri-an-ism, 148, 152. 

Ar'is-tot-le, 77 f. 

Ar-ma'da, 304, 335 f. 

Army, Egyptian, 15 ; Lacedasmonian 
(Spartan), 41 f. ; Athenian, 62 ; 
Macedonian, 80; Roman, 91, 95 f., 
98 f., 103; beginnings of paid, in 



5°5 



506 



Index 



'- France, 198 f. ; U. S., 373 f., 442 f., 
445; of Peter the Great, 385 f.; 
of Frederick the Great, 387; of Na- 
poleon, 403 f. 

Art, primitive, 4 f. ; Egyptian, 17—9, 
22; Babylonian, 23-5; Hebrew, 27; 
Minoan, 31 f. ; Periclean, 67 f. ; 
fourth-century, 78 f . ; . Alexandrian, 
85; Renaissance, 244 f. ; Japanese, 
470 (ill.) ; see Architecture. 

Ar'te-mis, 39. 

Artisans, in England, 259, 263—5; i n 
France, 320 f. ; under Elizabeth, 

331-3- 

Arts, useful, see Industry. 

Assembly of freemen, Greek, 36; Spar- 
tan, 42 ; Athenian, 64 f . ; Roman, 
89; under Charlemagne, 171; French 
national, 399. 

As-syr'i-a, 25. 

Astrology, 211. 

Astronomy, Egyptian, 20; early Greek, 
51, 62; Alexandrian, 83; under 
Charlemagne, 172; in Renaissance, 
248 f. ; in 18th cent., 353. 

A-the'na, 46; festival to, 63 ; temple of, 
87 f. 

Athenians, character and ideals of, 69 f . 

Athens, city-state, 35; growth of gov- 
ernment, 36 f. ; Periclean, 54—70; 
after Pericles, 73 ff . 

Athletics, Greek, 48 f. ; Athenian, 60, 

63. 

A'tri-um, 122. 

At'ti-ca, 35. 

Augs'burg, Religious Peace of, 298. 

Au-gus'tus, 113, 115. 

Aus-tra'li-a, becomes British, 375 ; 
colonization of, 453 f., 459. 

Aus'tri-a, under Joseph II, 389; in 
1815-48, 424—6; and Italy, 427 f. ; 
separated from Germany, 430; im- 
perialism of, 464. 

Automobiles, 494. 

A-zores', 271. 

Bab-y-lo'ni-a, 6 f., 23-5. 
Bacon, Francis, 353. 
Ba-ha'ma Islands, 277. 
Balance of Power, 377. 
Bal-kan' States, 431—4. 
Ba-lu-chis-tan', 475. 



Banking, Roman, 125; mediaeval, 

229 f. ; English, 358 f. 
Barbarism, defined, 7. 
Barter, Egyptian, 14; ancient, 26; 

mediaeval, 229. 
Ba-sil'i-ca, Roman, 109; Renaissance, 

245 f. 
Bas-tille', 399 f. 
Bath, Roman, 123. 
Bel'gi-um, joined with Holland, 425; 

independence recognized, 426. 
Ben'e-fice, 147 f., 177. 
Bible, 27, 155; translated by Luther, 295. 
Bill of Rights, 342 f. 
Bishop, 157, as feudal lord, 177-80. 
Bis'marck, 430 f. 
Black Death, 257-9. 
Bce-o'ti-a, 73. 
Boers, 456 f., 468. 
Bon'i-face VIII, 199. 
Books, Greek, 59; mediaeval, 209; 

and printing, 250; German, 295. 
Boston Tea Party, 372 f. 
Bourgeois, Bourgeoisie (bur-zhwa/, bur- 

zhwa-ze'), see Middle Class. 
Bra-zil', 434-8. 
Brickwork, Egyptian, 15 ; Babylonian, 

23- 

Bridges, suspension, 416 f. 

Britain, Great, in 17th cent., 339—54; 
in 1 8th cent., 409—21 ; favors nation- 
ality, 426 f., 432—4; history of, since 
1785, 452-63, 468-70, 475. 

Bronze Age, 32. 

Brotherhood (phratry), 58 f. 

Bul-ga'ri-a, 433 f. 

Bull, of Boniface VIII, 199; burned 
by Luther, 293. 

Bun'yan, 352 f. 

Bureaucracy, 115. 

Cabinet system, 343 f . 

Ca'diz, 28. 

Caesar, see Julius Caesar. 

Cal'i-cut, 271 f. 

Cal'vin, John, 298-301. 

Calvinism, beliefs and organization, 
298 f. ; democracy, 299 f.; inter- 
national character, 300 f . ; in France, 
304 f . ; in Europe, 306. 

Can'a-da, becomes British, 375 ; Do- 
minion of, 459. 



Index 



507 



Canals, English, 416; Suez canal 
457 ; Panama, 476 f . 

Cape Colony, 453, 468. 

Cape Verde Islands, 271. 

Capet (ca-pa'), 187, 197 f. 

Capitalists, beginnings of, 263 f . ; foreign 
in Latin America, 438; in U. S., 
447 f. ; as reformers, 483 f. ; and 
labor, 486-91. 

Car-bo-na'ri, 426 f. 

Car'thage, go f. 

Cart'wright, Edmund, 411. 

Castes, 469 f . 

Castle, 202—4; life in the, 204—6. 

Catapult, 91 (ill.). 

Cathedral of Florence, 240. 

Catholic Church, Roman, 152; organi- 
zation of, 157; growth, 162 f.; su- 
premacy, 182-201; courts, 189 f. ; 
and State in Germany, 287 ; and 
Lutheranism, 292—8; versus Protest- 
ants, 297—301 ; Reformation, 301 ff. 
settlement with Protestantism, 306 
disestablishment in England, 327-9 
abuses in, prior to French Revolu- 
tion, 395 ; property confiscated by 
French government, 401; and Na- 
poleon, 405. 

Cat'i-line, 96 f. 

Ca'to, 106. 

Cavaliers, 341 ; contrasted with Puri- 
tans, 348. 

Ca-vour', 427 f. 

Ce'res, 108. 

Cey-lon', 453. 

Charity, beginnings of, in Florence, 241 ; 
France, 406. 

Charlemagne, 168 f. ; his empire, 169-73. 

Charles I, 339—41 ; XII, 383. 

Chartered companies, 357 f. 

Charter, Great (Magna Carta), 190. 

Children, Egyptian, 12 f . ; Spartan, 
39 f. ; Athenian, 58-62; Roman, 
JCtf-S, 119; in France, 321-5; in 
U. S., 447 f. ; under factory system, 
482-4 ; at present, 489 f . 

Chi-le', 434-8. 

China, opened to western world, 458; 
since 1876, 471-4. 

Chivalry, 205. 

Christ, 27; life of, 154; see Chris- 
tianity. 



Christianity, 26 f . ; origin and char- 
acter, 154 f.; early growth, 155 f. ; 
persecutions, 156; organization, 157; 
'recognition by empire, 157 ; sects, 
158 f. ; and Spanish colonization, 

' 279—81 ; Protestant revolt on Con- 
tinent, 286-306, 314 f. ; in England, 
327-9; Lutheranism, 292-8; Prot- 
estantism, 297 f . ; Calvinism, 298— 
301 ; religious struggles, 292-306. 

Church, Greek, and Czar of Russia, 
385- 

Church, Roman, see Catholic. 

Cic'e-ro, 96 f., 106; age of, 105 f. 

Cith'a-ra, 47. 

Cities, Minoan, 31-3 ; Greek, 35 ff., 
81; Roman, 91 f., 115-8, 120 f . ; 
mediaeval, 217; Renaissance, 234- 
42 ; force • in civilization, 234 f . ; 
in Germany, 287 f. ; in English 
America, 364 f., 368; later growth 
in England, 415 f . ; in U. S., 447 
f . ; under factory system, 481—4 ; 
at present, 489-92, 4g6 f. 

Citizenship, extension of Roman, 94 f., 
100. 

City-state, Greek, 35 f . ; Rome, 87 ; 
of Roman empire, 116 ff. 

Civil War, at Rome, 98 f., 100; in Eng- 
land, 340 f. ; in U. S., 445. 

Civilization, complexity of modern, 
1 f . ; definition, 3 ; pioneers, 5- 7 ; 
Egyptian, 10-23 ; Babylonian, Assy- 
rian, and Persian, 23—6; Hebrew 
and Phoenician, 26-8; Minoan, 31-3 ; 
early Greek, 33-7 ; Spartan, 37—43 ; 
religious and intellectual, 46—52; 
Periclean, 54-70; 4th cent., 73-80; 
Alexandrian, 81-5; growth of Roman, 
103-n; of Roman empire, 116-32; 
decline of Roman, 135-44; German, 
146-8, 152 f. ; of Eastern empire, 
191 ; of Saracens, 192 f. ; of Renais- 
sance, 234—50; of France (1350-1789), 
309-25; of England in 16th cent., 
330-4, 336 f.; in 17th and 18th 
cents., 339-54; of English America, 
363-9 ; under Louis XIV, 378-81 ; 
under Peter the Great, 385-7; of 
France prior to Revolution, 394~7; 
• of Latin America, 435—8; of Far 
East, 458 f., 470-4; of India, 468- 



5o8 



Index 



70; of East and West, 473 f. ; of 
factory system, 481-4; present, 489- 
97- 
Clergy, regular and secular, 209; and 
princes, 287 ; Calvinistic, 301 ; abuses 
of, 293, 327 f.; prior to French Revo- 
lution, 395; reformation of, 301-3, 
401; in rural France, 3.16; desirable 
career. 325; English, 327-9. 
Clive, 360. 
Clo'vis, 149. 
Cnos'sus, 31. 
Code Napoleon, 405. 
Coffee-houses, 347 f. 

Coins, currency, money, Persian, 25 ; 
Greek. 26; Roman, 137-9; mediaeval, 
230 f. ; reformed by Elizabeth, 553 f . ; 
of Peter the Great, 385 ; Continental 
(U. S.), 439- 
Col-bert', 382. 

Colonization, Phoenician, 28,52; Greek, 
35, 50, 52; Roman, 94 f., 115 f., 
148; Portuguese, 270-3; Spanish, 
278-84, 426; English under Eliza- 
beth, 334-6 ; British in Indies, 356 f., 
359-61, 453, 457 f . ; British in America, 
361-9; French in America, 370; 
Dutch, 453 ; of Australia, 453 £., 
459; of Africa, 454- 7; by U. S., 
44i i-> 455; Russian, 457; Japanese, 
471- 
Co-lum'bus, 276 f. 

Commerce, Egyptian, 14; Babylonian, 
24 f. ; Phoenician, 28; Greek, 34 f., 
148; Spartan, 38; Athenian, 56, 
66 f. ; Alexandrian, 81 ; early Roman, 
88; in Roman empire, 125 f. ; Sara- 
cen, 193; mediaeval, 220-9, 231; 
of Constantinople, 224 f. ; of Genoa, 
225, 227; of Venice, 225, 227-9; of 
Portugal, 271-3; British, under Eliza- 
beth, 334—6 ; under Cromwell, 341 ; 
in 17th cent., 356-9; with India, 
350—61; more recent, 452—5, 457—9; 
French, with India, 359 f. ; under 
Louis XIV, 381 f . ; under Napoleon, 
452 f. ; American colonial, 364. 371—3, 
375; of U. S., 442 f., 455; Dutch, 
341, 356 f., 475,' Chinese, 458 f . ; 
Japanese, 459. 
Commonwealth, 341. 
" Companionship, " 147 f . 



Compass, 249. 

Compurgation, 188. 

Concordat of Napoleon, 405. 

Confederation, Articles of, 438 f. 

Con 'go, 466 f. 

Congress, at Philadelphia, 373; Con- 
tinental, 373, 439 ; of Vienna, 424-6 ; 
of Paris, 433 ; of Berlin, 434. 

Con 'stan- tine, 157. 

Con-stan- ti-no 'pie, founding of, 116; 
seat of civilization, 191, 244; c6m- 
merce, 224 f. ; fall, 227. 

Constitution, origin of, 36; French, 
401; U. S., 439 f ; see Government. 

Cooperative societies, 485 f. 

Co-per'ni-cus, 246 f., 248. 

Copper, earliest use of, 7. 

Cor'do-va, Caliphate of, 192. 

Co-re 'a, 471. 

Corn Laws, of Elizabeth, 331. 

Cor-rect'ors, 276. 

Cor-vee', 392 f., 401. 

Council, Greek. 36 f. ; Spartan, 42; 
Olympic, 46 f . ; Athenian, 65; of 
Nicaea, 159; under Charlemagne, 
171; Great, in England, 190; of 
Clermont, 194; Great, in France, 
199; of Trent, 301 f. 

Court, beginning of, in France, 309; 
of Elizabeth, 330; of Louis XIV, 
378-80. 

Courts, Athenian, 65 ; English, 188—90. 

Cre'cy, battle of, 254. 

Credit, 359. 

Crete, 31. 

Cri-me'an War, 433. 

Crompton, Samuel, 411. 

Cromwell, Oliver, 341 f. ; Navigation 
Acts of, 356 f. 

Crusades, 194-7, 269. 

Cu-ne'i-form writing, 23. 

Cu'ri-a, Cu-ri-a'les, 117. 

Czar of Russia becomes absolute, 384-7. 

Da-ri'us, 25. 

De'los, Confederacy of, 67, n. 1. 

Del'phi, oracle at, 47. 

Deme (town), 64. 

De-me'ter, 51; mysteries of, 69; at 
Rome, 108. 

Democracy, origin of Greek, 37; Athe- 
nian, 54, 64 f ., 70 ; of Luther, 295-7 5 



Index 



509 



of Calvinism, 299 f. ; lack of, under 
Elizabeth, 336 f . ; beginnings of, in 
England, 342-4; in English America, 
367 f . ; philosophy of, 396 f . ; in 
France, 401, 405 ; modern, 423 f. ; 
in Latin America, 434-6; in British 
empire, 459, 468, 462 f . ; in China, 
473 ; and socialism, 488 ; character 
at present, 488-92. 

De-mos'the-nes, 80. 

Despot, Caesar as, 100; Elizabeth, 
336 f. ; Stuarts, 330-42 ; age of, 377- 
90; Louis XIV, 380-2; Peter the 
Great, 384-7; Frederick the Great, 
387 f. ; Joseph II, 389 ; benevolent, 
389 f . ; decline of, 390, 402, 405 f ., 
423 f . ; Louis XVI, 398-402 ; Na- 
poleon I, 403-5. 

Di'az, 271, 435. 

Di-de-rot', 396. 

Diet, of Worms, 293-5 ; 01 Speyer, 
297, n. 

Digester, 413. 

Discoveries, of Portuguese, 270-2; of 
Columbus, 277; Spanish, 278 f. ; 

Divine Right king, 339 ; struggle against, 
in England, 339-42 ; overthrow, 
342-4, 423 ; Louis XIV, 380-2 ; 
Peter the Great, 384-7 ; Frederick 
the Great, 387 f . ; Joseph II, 389 ; 
Louis XVI, 398-402. 

Do-min'i-cans, 209. 

Dra'co, 36, n. 1. 

Drainage, Roman, 123 f. ; mediaeval, 
204; in Florence, 239 f. ; in English 
America, 364 f. 

Drake, Francis, 335. 

Drama, Attic, 63 ; under Puritans, 
348; of Shakespeare, 351 f. 

Dress, of stone age, 4; Egyptian, 12 f. ; 
Minoan, 32 f. (ill.) ; Greek, 47, 48, 
56 (ills.), 57 f-, 64 (ill.); English, 
348-50; in English America, 368 
(ill.), 369 ; Russian, 386 f . 

Du-o'vi-ri, 117. 

Du-pleix 7 (du-pla'), 360. 

Dutch, see Netherlands. 

East India Company, English, 358, 
360 f . ; French, 359 f . 

Economy, economic condition, primi- 
tive, 4 f. ; Egyptian, 11 ff. ; Baby- 



lonian, 23-5; Minoan, 31-3; Spar- 
tan, 38 ff. ; Athenian, 54-8, 66 f ., 
73 f. ; Alexandrian, 81-3 ; Mace- 
donian, 80; early Roman, 88; of 
Roman rule, g2 f. ; of Roman empire, 
137-44 ; 01 France under Louis XIV, 
381 f . ; before revolution, 30g- 25, 
392-5; after revolution, 401, 405 f. ; 
British, under Elizabeth, 330-4; in 
17th cent., 362 ; in industrial revo- 
lution, 409-21; more recent, 420 f., 
452 f., 455; of English America, 
363-9, 37i-3, 375 ; Pf U. S., before 
Civil War, 440-5 ; recent, 445-8 ; 
Russian, under Peter the Great, 
385; German, under Frederick the 
Great, 387 f. ; more recent, 429 f. ; 
under benevolent despots, 388 ff. ; 
of modern imperialism, 460—4; of 
Congo, 466 f . ; of India, 468-70 ; of 
Japan, 471; of China, 472 f. ; of 
factory system, 481-4; of socialism, 
484-8; present, 488-97. 

Edict of Nantes, 305, 382. 

Education, Egyptian, 16; Spartan, 
39 f. ; Athenian, 59—63 ; Alexandrian, 
81-5; Roman, 88, 103—5, 119; 
through Cicero, 106; under Charle- 
magne, 172; Saracen, 192 f. ; of 
mediaeval nobles, 204 ; in monasteries, 
210 f. ; in universities, 212-4; Span- 
ish, in America, 279 f . ; in Geneva, 
301; in France, 314-6, 322-5; in 
English America, 366; in India, 469; 
and modern state, 489 f. 

Edward III, 255. 

E'gypt, 6 f . ; ancient history of, 10-16; 
religion, 16-20; literature, 21; de- 
cline, 21-3 ; conquered by Alexander, 
80 f . ; acquired by England, 467. 

Electricity, 493 f. 

El-eu'sis, mysteries of, 69. 

Elizabeth, 329—37. 

Empire, Egyptian, n; Babylonian 
and Assyrian, 25; Persian, 25 f.; 
Athenian, 67, n. 1 ; of Alexander, 
80 f. ; growth of Roman, 89-91 ; 
government, 91—3 ; under Caesar, 
97—100; from Augustus to Diocletian, 
1 1 2-6; civilization, 116-32; decline 
of Roman, 135-44; °f Charlemagne, 
169— 73; ideal of Christian, 183; 



5"> 



Index 



Holy Roman, 185, 286, 306; Eastern 
or Byzantine, 191 ; Portuguese, 270- 
3 ; Spanish, 277-84; decline of, 303 f., 
306, 426; British, in America, 361- 
75 ; in India and East, 356-61, 468- 
70; recent growth of, 452-9, 462 f., 
467-70, 475 f. ; French, under Louis 
XIV, 377-82 ; under Napoleon, 403—5, 
452 f., 456; recent, 464 ff., 475 f. ; 
Russian, under Peter the Great, 
384—7; recent, 463, 474 f. ; Turkish, 
431-4; of U. S., 440-2, 455, 476-8; 
Dutch, 453, 456 f. ; German, 463 f ., 
475 f . ; Italian, 464, 466 ; Belgian, 
464, 466 f. ; Chinese, 471-3 ; of other 
nations, 464, 475 f. 

Enclosures, 262. 

Encyclopaedists, 396 f . 

Engine, steam, see Steam Engine. 

Eng'land, Norman, 186-91 ; national 
unity of, 253; and Tudors, 327—37; 
see Britain, Great. 

Ephors, 42. 

Episcopalian (Anglican), 328 f. 

Er-a-tos'the-nes, 83. 

Estates General, beginnings of, 199 f. ; 
in Hundred Years' War, 256 f. ; under 
Louis XIV, 380; meeting of (1789), 
399- 

E-trus'cans, 88. 

Excommunication, 185; of Luther, 293. 

Eu'clid's Elements, 82. 

Eu-phra'tes, valley of, 5 f., 23 ff. 

Factory, growth of, 412, 415 ; system, 
412, 446-8, 481-4; Act of 1833, 484. 

Fair, mediaeval, 220 f. 

Family "and home, Egyptian, 12; Spar- 
tan, 40; Athenian, 58 f . ; Roman, 
88, 119 f . ; Florentine, 235-8, 241-3; 
French, 309-19, 321 f., 323-5, 406; 
German, 287 f., 289-91 ; English, 
330, 344-51; American colonial, 
365-9; Latin American, 436, 438; 
Indian, 469 f. ; Japanese, 471; Chi- 
nese, 471—3 ; under factory system, 
481-3 ; present, 490 f ., 496 f . 

Far East, 458 f. ; contemporary, 471-4. 

Faun, Hawthorne's, 79, 80 (ill.). 

Ferdinand and Isabella, 275 f. 

Festival, Athenian, 63; mediaeval, 
220 f. 



Feudalism, 175-80; beginnings of, 144; 
checked by Charlemagne, 170 f. ; 
decay, 254; in French America, 370; 
abolished, 423 ; see also Serfdom. 

Fief, 178 f. 

Field Brethren, 105. 

Finances, see Economy. 

Firearms, first use of, 254. 

Fire-kindling, 4. 

Florence, 235; bankers of, 230; daily 
life in, 235 f . ; women of, 236 ; social 
customs, 237 f. ; government, 238 f. ; 
civic activities, 239—42. 

Forum, Roman, 88. 

France, beginnings of, 173; Normans 
in, 186 f. ; English in, 190 f. ; uni- 
fication, 197-9, 2 56 f., 309; Hundred 
Years' War, 253—6; religious wars, 
304 f. ; ascendancy of, 306; social 
life, 309-25 ; in New World, 370, 374; 
under Louis XIV, 377-82 ; on eve 
of revolution, 392—9; during revo- 
lution, 400-2 ; becomes republic, 
402 ; under Napoleon, 403-8 ; a 
modern nation, 424 f. ; friend of 
nationality, 426, 427, 432-4; de- 
feated by Germany, 431 ; colonial 
empire, 452 f., 456, 459. 

Fran-cis'cans, 209. 

Franklin, Benjamin, 439. 

Franks, 149, 165. 

Frederick the Great, 387 f. 

Friars, 209; in England, 260, 328. 

Fulton, Robert, 419. 

Future life, belief in, Egyptian, 19 f.; 
Athenian, 58, 69; Christian, 155. 

Gal-i-le'o, 247-9. 

da Ga'ma, Vas'co, 271. 

Game Laws, 393. 

Games, Greek, 48 f. 

Gar-i-bal'di, 427 f. 

Gaul, conquered by Caesar, 98. 

Ge-ne'va, Calvin at, 298-300. 

Genius, Roman god, 107; of prince, 114. 

Gen'o-a, commerce of, 225, 227. 

Geography, early Greek, 51 f. ; Alex- 
andrian, 83; mediaeval, 223, 226; 
in Renaissance, 270 f., 276 f. 

Germans, primitive, 146-52; in 16th 
cent., 286 f. ; economic condition, 
287—90; see Germany. 



Index 



5" 



Germany, beginnings of, 173; unifica- 
tion, 429-31; and industrial revo- 
lution, 429 f. ; empire, 460-2, 463-5, 

475 f- 

Gin, cotton, 411, 444. 

Gladiatorial fights, 93. 

God, gods, see Religion. 

Gold, in Middle Ages, 229-31; discov- 
ery of, in South America, 279, 281 f. ; 
in U. S., 441 f. 

Golden Age, 130 f. 

Gospels, 154. 

Government, beginnings of, 5 ; Egyptian, 
n; Babylonian, 23; Assyrian, 25; 
Persian, 25 f. ; Minoan, 31-3; early 
Greek, 36 f . ; Spartan, 42 ; Athenian, 
64 f . ; Macedonian, 80 ; early Roman, 
87, 89 ; local in empire, 91 f . ; provin- 
cial, 92 f. ; under Caesar, 97-100; 
from Augustus to Diocletian, n 2- 6; 
of imperial cities, 116-8; primitive 
German, 147 ; under Charlemagne, 
171 f. ; feudal, 179 f . ; Spanish, 281 
f. ; English (British), igo; under 
Elizabeth, 336 f. ; under Stuarts, 339 
f. ; under Cromwell, 341; in 17th 
cent., 341-4; and banking, 308 f. ; 
in American colonies, 367 f., 371-3; 
in Florence, 238 f. ; of Holy Roman 
Empire, 185, 286; German, 286 f., 
431; of American colonies during 
revolution, 373, 439; of U. S., 439 f., 
445 f . ; of France under Louis XIV, 
380-2 ; under Louis XVI, 398 ; in 
revolution, 399-402 ; under Napoleon, 
403, 405 ; of Peter the Great, 384—7 ; 
of Frederick the Great, 387 f. ; of 
Joseph II, 389; benevolent despot- 
ism, 377-90; principle of modern, 
423 f. ; of Turkish empire, 431 f. ; 
in Latin America, 434-6; and social- 
ism, 488; present, 488-92. 

Grac'chus, Ti-be'ri-us, 93 f . ; Gai'us, 94 f . 

Grain Mill, Roman, 128 (ill.). 

Granges, 485 f. 

Greece, 6; in Minoan age, 31-3 ; country 
and people, 33- 5 ; early government, 
35-7; Sparta, 37-43; religion and 
intelligence, 46-52 ; Periclean Athens, 
54-70; from Pericles to Alexander, 
73-80; Alexandrian age, 80-5; in 
world's history, 87; modern, 432. 



Greek language, medium of communi- 
cation, 104; in Roman empire, 116. 

Greeks, origin of, 33 f . ; modern, 432. 

Gree'ley, Horace, 444. 

Greg'o-ry the Great, 16 1-3; VII, 
182-6. 

Gro'ti-us, 377. 

Guilds, Roman, 140 f. ; mediaeval, 218 
f. ; in France, 320 f. 

Guillotine, 402 (ill.). 

Guinea, 456; New, 475. 

Gunpowder, 249. 

Gu' ten-berg, 249 f. 

Ha'des, 46, 51. 

Har'greaves, James, 410 f. 

Ha-wai'ian Islands, 476. 

Hebrews, 26 f. 

Hec-a-tae'us, 52. 

He'lix, 82. 

Hellas, see Greece. 

Hellenes, see Greeks. 

Helots, 38. 

Henry IV, 305 ; VIII, 328 f. ; Patrick, 
372. 

He'ra, 46. 

Heretics, 185. 

Her'mes of Praxiteles, 78 f. 

Her-od'o-tus, 74 f . 

He-roph'i-lus, 83 f. 

Hieroglyphs, 21. 

Hindus, 469 f. 

Hip-poc'ra-tes, oath of, 128. 

Hol'land, character of, 303 f . ; revolt 
against Spain, 283, 304; commerce 
with East, 356; rivalry with Eng- 
land, 356 f. ; joined with Belgium, 

425- 

Holy Land, seized by Turks, 193. 

Homage, 178. 

Ho'mer, 49 f., 59 f. 

Hor'ace, 131. 

House, primitive, 5; Egyptian, 12, 13; 
Periclean, 60; later Greek, 73, 74 
(ill.); Roman, 122; primitive Ger- 
man, 146 (ill.) ; Byzantine, 192 
(ill.); French, 310, 406; Elizabethan, 
331 (ill.), 336 (ill.); later English, 
344; coffee, 347 f. ; American colonial, 
363 (ill.) ; Russian, 387 (ill.) ; in 
factory town, 481 f. ; present, 490. 

Hu'gue-nots, 304 f. 



512 



Index 



Humanists, 243 f. 
Hundred Years' War, 253-6. 

Il'i-ad, 49. 

Im-pe-ra'tor, 113. 

Imperialism, of Macedon, 80 f . ; recent, 
420 f., 452-78; contemporary, 460- 
78 ; principles and methods of, 460-2 ; 
British, 462 f., 467-70, 475 f.; Ger- 
man, 463 f ., 475 f . ; Russian, 463, 
474 f. ; French, 464 ff., 475 f . ; Italian, 
464, 466; Belgian, 464, 466 f. ; of 
Japan, 470; of United States, 476-8; 
of other nations, 464, 475 f. 

India, English in, 357, 359-6i, 453 ; be- 
comes part of British empire, 457 f. ; 
civilization and government of, 468- 
70 ; French in, 359 f . 

Indians, conquered by Spaniards, 278 
f. ; treatment, 279-81 ; wars with 
English settlers, 369 f. 

Indies, East, Dutch and English trade 
with, 356 f. ; Portuguese trade with, 
273, 350. 

Indulgences, 292. 

Industry, Egyptian, 13 f., 18-20; 
Babylonian, 23-5; Phoenician, 28; 
Minoan, 31 f. ; Greek, 34 f. ; Spartan, 
38; Athenian, 55, 66; Alexandrian, 
81; early Roman, 88; in empire, 
124-6; Saracen, 193; in Middle 
Ages, 202, 204-8, 220; Venetian, 
228; in England, 263 f . ; Portuguese, 
269; Spanish, 273-5, 282-4; Ger- 
man, 287-9; in France, 320 f., 381 
f . ; Elizabethan, 330-2 ; in English 
America, 363 f . ; in French America, 
370; under Peter the Great, 385; 
English revolution in, 409-21 ; causes, 
409 f . ; improvements in manufactur- 
ing, 410 f. ; use of steam, 412-15 ; 
results, 415-21; revolution in Ger- 
many, 429 f . ; in Latin America, 
437 f. ; in United States, 442-4, 446- 
8 ; and imperialism, 460-2 ; in Japan, 
471 ; evils of and remedies for, 481- 
4; industrial classes, 486; struggles, 
486-8 ; present, 488-96. 

Inquisition, 185 f. ; in Spain, 276; in 
Spanish empire, 303; in England, 
3?9- 

Insurance, state, 491. 



International relations, growth of, 
377 ; in Congress of Vienna, 424-6 ; 
of Cavour, 427; Turkish (Balkan) 
question, 432-4; contemporary, 460 
ff. 

Inventions, primitive, 4 f . ; in Renais- 
sance, 248-50; in 18th cent., 410-5; 
recent, 474, 493-7 ; see Industry. 

Investiture, 184. 

Is-a-bel'la of Castille, 275 f. 

Is'lam, see Mohammedans. 

Is'ra-el, see Hebrews. 

It'a-ly, in 1815, 425 ; unification of, 
426-8; imperialism, 464, 466; an- 
cient, see Romans, Rome. 

James I, 339. 

Japan, Dutch commerce with, 356; 
opened to western world, 458 f. ; 
present, 470 f. 

Ja'va, 356, 475. 

Je-ho'vah, 26 f. 

Jenny, spinning, 410 (ill.), 411. 

Jesus, Society of, Jesuits, 302 f. ; col- 
leges, 322 ; see Christ. 

Jews, ancient, 26 f. ; in Spain, 275 f . ; 
in Spanish empire, 303. 

Jo'an of Arc, 255 f. 

Jo'seph, the Hebrew, 16; II, 389. 

Ju'li-us Cse'sar, 97-100, 106; his colo- 
nies, 115. 

Ju'no, 107. 

Jury, Athenian, 65 ; English, 188 f. 

Kay, John, 410. 

Khan, Kub'lai, 226. 

Knight, 180; knighthood, 204 f. 

Ko-ran', 166. 

Krupp, Alfred, 429. 

Laborers, Egyptian, n-6; Greek, 38, 
55-7 ; in Roman time, 90 f. ; under 
Elizabeth, 331-3; in Latin America, 
436-8; in U. S., 448; under factory 
system, 481-4; at present, 488-91, 
496 f . ; unskilled, 490 f . 

Lac-e-ds'mon, 37, n. 1. 

La-co'ni-a, 37. 

Landowners, in Roman empire, 142-4; 
in England, 257-64; German, 290, 

295-7- 
La'res, 105. 



Index 



5i3 



Laws, contrasted with customs, 5 ; 
Babylonian, 24; Greek, 36; Athe- 
nian, 65 ; agrarian, 93 f., 97 f. ; Roman, 
89, 103 f .,. 198 ; slow progress in Eng- 
land, 265; Statute of Laborers, 259; 
Elizabethan, 330-4; of French revo- 
lution, 400 f . ; of Napoleon, 405 ; 
labor, 484, 488-91. 

Lawyers, Roman, 127. 

League, Peloponnesian, 42 f . ; Han- 
seatic, 224. 

Le'o-pold II of Belgium, 467. 

Liability, employers', in U. S., 448. 

Library, Babylonian, 24; Alexandrian, 
84. 

Lin' coin, Abraham, 445. 

Lis'bon, 272. 

Literature, Egyptian, 21 ; Babylonian, 
24; Hebrew, 27; Spartan, 40; early 
Greek, 49-51; Periclean, 59 f., 63; 
fourth-cent., 74-8; Alexandrian, 81- 
5; Latin, 104—6, 115 f. ; under prin- 
cipate, 130 f . ; under empire, 132 ; 
German, 295 f. ; English, 351-3; 
French, 380, 395-7- 

Liv'ing-stone, David, 456. 

Liv'i-us An-dro-ni'cus, 103 ff. 

Liv'y, 131- 

Lom'bards, 162. 

Loom, power, 411. 

Lords, 176-80; House of, 190. 

Lor-raine', acquired by France, 306; 
ceded to Germany, 431. 

Louis XIV, and commerce, 359 f . ; 
his nobles, 377 f. ; his court, 378 f. ; 
culture, 380 ; government, 380 f, ; 
wars of, 381 ; finances under, 381 f. ; 
failure of, 382 ; XVI, 398-402. 

Loy-o'la, Ig-na'ti-us, 302 f. 

Lu'ther, against monopolies, 288 f. ; 
life, 292-7. 

Lutheranism, principles of, 292 f. ; 
recognition of, 297 f . ; in England, 
327. 

Lyre, 60. 

Lys'i-as, 56. 

Mac-ad' am, 416. 
Ma'ce-don, 73, 80 f. 
Mad-a-gas'car, 465. 
Ma-dei'ras, 271. 
Man'ches-ter, in 1830, 481 f. 



Man-chu'ri-a, 474. 

Manor, life in the, 202-8. 

Manufacturing, Roman, 125 f. ; Sara- 
cen, 193 ; of cloth in England, 263 ; 
in Spain, 273-5 ; in France, 17th 

■ cent., 320 f. ; Elizabethan, 330-2 ; 
English revolution in, 410-5 ; in 
Germany, 429 f. ; in Latin America, 
437 L; in U. S., 444, 446-8; and 
imperialism, 460-2; evils of factory 
system and remedies, 481-4; see 
Industry. 

Ma'ri-us, 95 f. 

Ma^ 105. 

Mar-tel', Charles, 166 f. 

Marx, Karl, 488. 

Mas-sa-chu'setts, founding of, 361. 

Mathematics, Egyptian, 20; early 
Greek, 51 ; Alexandrian, 81 f. 

Me'di-ci, Lorenzo de', 238; marriage 
of, 237 ; patron of art, 245. 

Medicine, see Physicians. 

Mes-se'ni-a, 37. 

Mes-ti'zos, 435 f. 

Met'o-pe, 67. 

Met'ter-nich, Prince, 425 f., 429. 

Mi-chael-an'ge-lo, 245. 

Middle Ages, 165-233. 

Middle class, birth of, 264; in Ger- 
many, 287-9; in France, 304 f., 318, 
320 f., 379; in England, 327, 346-51. 

Mi-ka'do, 458 f. 

Militarism, 430 f., 461. 

Mil' ton, John, 352. 

Mines, mining, in New World, 281, 
284; in England, 413 f. ; in Latin 
America, 437 ; in United States, 
441 f. 

Mi-no' ans, 7, 31-3. 

Missionaries, Christian, 27 ; to Britain 
and Ireland, 162; to China, 458; in 
New World, 279 f., 302 f. 

Moham'med, 166 f. 

Mo-ham 'me-dans, 166 f. ; conflict with 
Christianity, 167; Saracens, 192; 
Moors, 192 ; civilization of, 192 f. ; 
in Turkish empire, 432. 

Monasteries, beginnings of, 159 f. ; 
economic value, 208 f. ; centres of 
learning, 210 f. ; destruction of, in 
England, 328. 

Mon-go'li-a, 474 f. 



5i4 



Index 



Monopoly, colonial, 283 ; in Germany, 

287-9; Dutch, in East Indies, 356; 

in U. S., 447 f- 
Monroe Doctrine, 426, 477 f. 
Moors, civilization of, 192 ; expelled 

from Spain, 275 f. 
Mo-roc' co, 465 f. 
Mo'ses, 26. 
Mule (machine), 411. 
Mummy, 19 f. 
My-ce'nae, 31, 33- 
Myth, of Osiris, 17, 21; Babylonian, 

24; Greek, 51, 53. 

Na-po'le-on, 403-5. 

Na-tal', 456. 

National Assembly, 399-401. 

Nationality, growth, 420 f., 426; prin- 
ciple of, 424; reaction against, 
424-6; in Italy, 426-8; in Germany, 
429-31; in Balkan states, 431-4; 
in Latin America, 434; in U. S., 
439 f., 44s f . ; and imperialism, 460; 
and industrial revolution, 460; in 
India, 469 f . ; in Japan, 470 f . ; in 
China, 471-3. 

Navigation Acts, 356 f. 

Navy, Athenian, 66 f . ; British, 334-6, 
359 i-, 453! of Napoleon, 453; of 
U. S., 442 f., 477. 

Neth'er-lands, revolt against Spain, 
283, 304 ; character of, 303 f . ; com- 
merce in East, 356; rivalry with 
England, 356 f. 

Newspapers, 347 f. 

New' ton, Isaac, 353. 

New Zea'land, 459. 

Nile, valley of, 5 f., 10 f., 23 ff. 

Nobles, nobility, origin of, 10 ; Minoan 
32; Greek, 36; Spartan, 41 f . ; 
under Charlemagne, 170-2 ; feudal, 
176-80; life of, 204-6; French, 309- 
11, 278-80, 392-5 ; under Peter the 
Great, 384, 386 f . ; see Lords. 

Nor'man-dy, 187. 

Northmen, Normans, invasions, 173, 
186 f. ; conquest of England, 187 f. 

Occupations, see Industry. 
Oc-ta-vi-a'nus, 100, 112 f. 
O-do-a'cer, 151. 
Od'ys-sey, 49. 



Olympic games, 48 f. 

O-lym'pus, 47. 

"Open-door," 477. 

Opium, introduced in China, 458; 

prohibited, 473. 
Oracle, Greek, 47. 
Orange Free State, 456 f., 468. 
Ordeals, 188. 

Or'e-gon country ceded to U. S., 440 f. 
Orient, ancient history of, 10-28. 
Organ, Greek pipe, 82. 
O-si'ris, 17, 21. 
Owen, Robert, 483 f., 485. 

Pse-da'go-gos, 59. 

Palace, Babylonian, 23; Minoan, 31; 
at Versailles, 378-80. 

Pal-aes'tra, 60. 

Pa-laz'zo Vec'chi-o, 240. 

Pal'es-tine, 26. 

Pan-ath-e-nae'a, 63. 

Papacy, beginnings of, 157, 160-3; 
alliance with Frankish king, 167 f. ; 
temporal power, 168; supremacy, 
182 f., 185 f. ; ideal of Christian 
empire, 183 ; conflict with civil 
rulers, 184 f., 199 f., 327-9; with 
Luther, 292-5; and Napoleon, 405. 

Papin, Dr., 412 f. 

Pa-py'rus, 21, 59. 

Paris, in 17 th cent., 318-20; in revolu- 
tion, 399-402. 

Parliament, English, 190, 293-5 ; under 
Stuarts, 339 f . ; in Commonwealth, 
341; victory of, in Restoration, 341- 
4; and American colonies, 37* _ 3- 

Par'the-non, 67 f. 

Parties, beginnings of, in England, 343. 

Pa-tri'cians, 88. 

Paupers, increase of, under Elizabeth, 
332 f. ; transported to America, 362; 
children, under factory system, 483. 

Peasants, Greek, 38, 56 (ill.) ; Roman, 
88, 99, 129 f., 139, 142-4; feudal, 
176-80, 206-8; English, 259 f., 317; 
German, 289-91, 295-7; French, 
3 1 1-7, 392—5, 401, 406; European, 

394- 
Pediment, 67 f. 
Pei-rffi'us, 56. 

Pel-o-pon-nese', Pel-o-pon-ne'sus, 37. 
Peloponnesian League, 42 f . ; war, 73. 



Index 



5i5 



Pe-na'tes, 107. 

Pensions, old-age, 448, 4gi. 

Pen-tel'i-cus, Mt., 68. 

Peons, 436 f. 

Per'i-cles, 65-7, 70; bust of, 78. 

Per-i-02'ci, 38. 

Per'i-style, 123. 

Per-seph'o-ne, 51. 

Per'sia, 25 f . ; conflict with Greece, 

43 ; conquered by Alexander, 80 f . ; 

Russian influence in, 457, 475! 
Peter the Great, 384-7- 
Petition of Right, 340. 
Petrarch, 242 f. 
Petrograd, founding of, 385 f. 
Phalanx, Spartan, 41 ; Macedonian, 

80; adopted by Rome, 91. 
Pha'roah, 11. 
Phei'di-as, 67 f. 
Philip, of Macedon, 80; II (the Fair), 

198-200; II (of Spain), 283, 303 f., 

335 I- 

Phil'ip-pine Islands, 476. 

Philosophy, Greek, 51, 62, 75-8; at 
Rome, 109; of French Revolution, 
396 f. 

Phce-ni'ci-ans, 28. 

Phratry, 58 f. 

Physicians, Egyptian, 22 ; Alexandrian, 
83 f. ; at Rome, 106 f., 127 f . ; in 

. rural France, 316, 325 ; in English 
America, 365. 

Physics, discoveries in, 247 f. 

Pilgrims, 361. 

Pin'dar, 50 f . 

Pip'pin, 167 f. 

Piracy, 223 f. 

Pla'to, 77- 

Plau'tus, 105. 

Ple-bei'ans, 88. 

Plin'y the Elder, 132. 

Poitiers (pwa-te-a-), battle of, 167. 

Po'land, partition of, 383 f. 

Po'lo, Marco, 225-7. 

Pom-pei'i, 117, 121. 

Poor, the, Egyptian, n f. ; Athenian, 
.57; Roman, 89, 93 ; under Louis XIV, 
381; under factory system, 481-4 ; un- 
der Elizabeth, 332 f . ; under Stuarts, 
362 ; children, in factory system, 483. 

Poor Laws of Elizabeth, 332 f. 

Portugal, 269 f. ; exploration and 



colonization, 270-2; colonial domain, 
273 ; present empire, 464. 

Po-sei'don, 46. 

Power, water, 412; steam, 412-5. 

Prax-it'e-les, 78 f. 

Priests, Egyptian, 19; Delphic, 47; in 
rural France, 316. 

Primitive man, 4 f. 

Prince, Prin'ceps, Principate, 112 ff. 

Prince Henry the Navigator, 270. 

Princes, German, 286 f . ; and the 
Church, 287, 297 f. ; choose religion 
for subjects, 298, 306. 

Printing press, 249 f. 

Proclamation, Emancipation, 445. 

Proc-u-ra'tor, 130. 

Protestants, Protestantism, 297 n. ; 
Lutheranism, 292-8 ; Calvinism, 2gS- 
301 ; struggle with Catholicism, 292- 
305 ; settlement, 305 f. ; Episco- 
palian (Anglican), 328 f. ; in English 
America, 361 f., 366 f. 

Province, Assyrian, 25 ; Roman, 92 f. 

Prussia, 387 f., 425 f., 428. 

Ptol-e-ma'ic si'stem, 83. 

Ptol'e-mies, 81, n. 1. 

Puritans, 329; in English politics, 330- 
42 ; contrasted with Cavalier, 348 ; 
literature of, 352 f. ; in America, 
361 f., 366 f. 

Pyramids, Egyptian, 20. 

Quakers, 362. 

Railways, beginnings of, 417-9; in 
U. S., 446; in modern life, 460; and 
electricity, 493. 

Ra-me'ses II, 20. 

Raph'a-el, 244 f. 

Reconstruction in U. S., 445 f. 

Reformation, Catholic, 301-3. 

Relief, 178. 

Religion, Egyptian, 16-20; Babylonian, 
23 ; Hebrew, 26 f . ; Greek, 46 f ., 
51, 58 f., 63, 67-g; Roman, 107-g; 
Christian; see Christianity. 

Ren-ais-sance', 234-50. 

Republic, Spartan, 42 ; Roman, 87- 
1 1 1 ; modern ; see Government, De- 
mocracy. 

Restoration, 341-4. 

Revolution, American, 373-S. 



5*6 



Index 



Revolution, French, causes of, 392-9; 
history of, 399-402; effects, 401, 
405 f., 452 f. ; in Europe, 402, 405. 

Revolution, Industrial, causes of, 409 
f . ; improvements in spinning and 
weaving, 410 f. ; use of steam, 412-5; 
results of, 415-21, 423 f. ; for democ- 
racy and nationality, 426; in Ger- 
many, 429 f. ; in Balkans, 43 2- 4; 
in Latin America, 437 f. ; in U. S., 
444, 446-8; and empire-building, 452 
f., 455, 460; and industrial classes, 
486. 

Revolution, Roman, 94. 

Rom'u-lus, Au-gus'tu-lus, 151. 

Roads, Roman, 109, 115, 120 f. (streets); 
mediaeval, 175, 221-3; modern, 416. 

Rolfe, 186 f. 

Romans, early occupations of, 87 f. ; 
under authority, 88 f.; winning an 
empire, 89-91 ; government of sub- 
jects, 91-3 ; from the Gracchi to 
Caesar, 93-100; growth of their 
civilization, 103-11; from Augustus 
to Constantine, 11 2-1 6; civilization 
of empire, 116-32; compared with 
Greeks, 118 f. ; decline, 135-44; 
invasions by Germans, 149; end of 
empire in the West, 151 f . ; blended 
with Germans, 152 f. 

Rome, ancient, see Romans; centre 
of Catholic Christianity, 157, 160 f., 
182 ff. ; capital of modern Italy, 428. 

Rotation of crops, 207, 345. 

Rou-ma'ni-a, 434. 

Roundheads, 341. 

Rous-seau', 397. 

Royal Society, 353 f. 

R us' sia, beginnings of, 384: under Peter 
the Great, 384-7 ; and Turkish ques- 
tion, 432-4; empire of, 460-2, 463, 
474 f- 

Sa-mo'a, 476. 

Sanitation, in English America, 364 f. ; 

under factory system, 482 f. 
San Sal'va-dor, 277. 
Sar'a-cens, civilization of, 192. 
Sar-din'i a, 427. 
Sax'ons, 149. 
Scholasticism, 211 f. 
School, see Education. 



Science, Babylonian, 24 f. ; early 
Greek, 51 ; progress in Periclean 
age, 62 f. ; of Aristotle, 77 f. ; Alex- 
andrian, 81-4; mediaeval, 211; Eng- 
lish, 353-4; German, 429; in Indus- 
trial Revolution, 412-20; modern, 
474. 493-7- 

Se-leu'ci-dae, kingdom of, 81. 

Senate, Roman, 89; and prince, 113. 

Ser'bi-a, 434. 

Serfs, serfdom, serf-like laborers, Spar- 
tan, 38; in Roman time, 90; in 
Roman empire, 97, 99, 130; growth 
of, 142; under feudal system, 176- 
80, 206-8; end of, 257, 311, 401. 

Shake' speare, William, 351 f. 

Sheepf arming, 262. 

Sho'gun, 458 f. 

Si-be' ri-a, colonization of, 463, 474. 

Silver Age, 132. 

Sing-a-pore', 453. 

Slaves, slavery, Greek, 38, 54 f. ; Roman, 
88, 90, no; in empire, 128 f . ; Portu- 
guese, 270 f. ; in English America, 
363 f. ; in U. S., 443-5 ; Great Britain 
abolishes, 454. 

Socialism, 486-8. 

Society, beginnings of, 5; Egyptian, 
n-16; Babylonian, 23; Greek, 35, 
48; Spartan, 38-41 ; Athenian, 54-9, 
62 f. ; in fourth century, 73 f. ; Mace- 
donian, 80 ; early Roman, 87-9 ; in 
Roman empire, 118-30, 140 f., 146-8, 
152 f. ; of Eastern empire, 191; of 
Saracens, 192 f. ; Florentine, 235-8, 
241-3 ; German, 287 f., 289-91 ; 
French, 309-19, 321 f., 323-5, 378-80, 
406; English, 330, 332 f., 344-Si; 
American colonial, 364-9; Russian, 
386 f. ; Latin-American, 436-8; 
Indian, 468-70; Japanese, 471; Chi- 
nese, 471-3 ; in factory system, 481-3 ; 
at present, 490 f., 496 f. 

Soc'ra-tes, 75-7. 

Sophists, 75. 

So'bn, 55. 

Soph'o-cles, 63. 

Spain, 269, 273-84; decline of, 303 f. ; 
loses colonial empire, 426; present 
empire, 464. 

Sparta, 37-43; supremacy of, 73; 
idealized by Plato, 77. 



Index 



5i7 



Sphere of influence, 462. 

Spice Islands, 356 f. 

St. Ben'e-dict, 159 f. 

St. Francis, 2og. 

St. Peter's, 158 (ill.), 246. 

Stamp Act, 372 f. 

Stanley, H. M., 456. 

States of the Church, 168, 182. 

Statute of Laborers, 259, 331 i. 

Ste'phen-son, George, 417-9. 

Steamboats, 419 f. ; 460. 

Steam engine, Greek, 82 f. ; experi- 
ments in, by Papin, 412 f. ; of Savery, 
413 ; of Newcomen, 413 f . ; of Watt, 
414 f . ; of Stephenson, 417-9 ; of 
Fulton, 419 f. 

Stock and Land Lease, 260 f. 

Stone Age, 4 f. 

Stowe, Mrs. Harriet Beecher, 444. 

Sultan, 431 f. 

Su-ma'tra, 475. 

Swe'den, under Charles XII, 382 f. ; 
united with Norway, 425. ■ 

Syndicalism, 488 n. 

Syr'i-a, 26-8. 

Tac'i-tus, 132. 

Tar' tars, 384. 

Taxes, Egyptian, 11; Mintian, 31; 

Roman, 139 f., 150; feudal, 177 f . ; 

of church property, 199 f . ; under 

Louis XIV, 381 f. ; in France before 

Revolution, 393 f . ; Turkish, 431 f . ; 

United States (Confederation), 439; 

of modern democracy, 491 f. 
Teachers, at Rome, 104 f. ; mediaeval, 

212; in France, 315, 322; in New 

England, 366. 
Telescope, 248. 
Tel'ford, 416 f. 
Temple, Egyptian, 17-9; Hebrew, 27; 

Athenian, 67 f. ; Roman, 108, 113 f. 
Tenants, in Roman empire, 129 f., 142; 

feudal, 176-9; in England, 261 f.; 

in France, 311 ff., 392-5. 
Texas, acquired by U. S., 440. 
Tha'les, 51, 62. 
Thebes, 73. 

Thirty -Nine Articles, 329. 
Thirty Years' War, 305. 
Three-field system, 207. 
Thu-cyd'i-des, 75. 



Ti'ber River, 88. 

Ti'gris, valley of, 5, 23 ff. 

Tombs, Egyptian, 19 f. ; Minoan, 32. 

Town, township, Greek, 64; mediaeval, 

217; in France, 318-25; in English 

America, 364 f., 368. 
Trade, see Commerce. 
Trades, see Industry. 
Tra-fal-gar', battle of, 453. 
Trans' vaal, founded by Boers, 456 f . ; 

absorbed in British empire, 468. 
Travel, Roman, 126 f . ; mediaeval, 

221-4; Portuguese, 270-2; British, 

334-6, 356-9; French, 359 f., 371-3; 

modern, 415-2°. 455 f-, 493 t 
Trent, Council of, 301 f. 
Tribunes of the plebs, 89, 93 f. 
Tribute, Egyptian, n; Roman, 92; 

Turkish, 431 f. 
Trip'o-li, 466. 
Trireme, 66 f. 
Troy, 31, 49. 
Trusts in U. S., 447 f. 
Turks, capture Constantinople, 227 : 

checked by Poland, 383; in 1800, 

431 f . ; loss of subject states, 432-4; 

German influence in, 475 f. 
Twelve Articles, 296 f . 
Tyre, 28. 

Unions, trades, forbidden by Elizabeth, 
332 ; growth of, 484 f. ; privileges 
of, 489. 

United States of America, in colonial 
period, 361-73; Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, 373 ; during Revolution, 
373-5; problems of, 438 f., 447 f. ; 
expansion, 440-2 ; commerce, 442 f . ; 
slavery, 443-6; industrial revolu- 
tion in, 444, 446-8 ; complete unifica- 
tion, 446; colonial empire, 476-8; 
war with Germany, 478. 

Universities, in Middle Ages, 212-4; 
in Renaissance, 241 f. ; of Erfurt, 
291, 292 (ill.); of Paris, 322; in 
English America, 366; and German 
unification, 429. 

Ur'ban II, 194. 

Van'dals, 149, 151. 

Vassals, 177-80, 198. 

Vat'i-can, art treasures of, 244 f. 



5i8 



Index 



Ven'ice, 225, 227-g; decline of, 272. 

Ver'gil, 131. 

Versailles (ver-si'yu), 378-80. 

Ves-puc'ci, A-mer'i-go, 278. 

Ves'ta, 107. ■ 

Vi-en'na, Congress of, 424-6. 

Vir-gin'i-a, founding of, 362. 

Vol-taire', 396. 

Wage, minimum, 448 ; in factory system, 
482-4. 

Wales, conquered by England, 191. 

Wash'ing-ton, George, 373 f. 

Water-frame, 411. 

Wa-ter-loo', 405. 

Watt, 414 f. 

Weavers, alien, in England, 263 ; im- 
provements of, 410 f. 

West-pha'li-a, treaty of, 305 f. 

Whit-ney, Eli, 411, 444. 

William I (of Germany), 430 f. 

William the Conqueror, 187 f. 



William III (of Orange), 342 ; and Bank 
of England, 358. 

Wit' ten-berg, 292. 

Women, Egyptian, 1 2 ; Minoan, 3 1 ; 
Spartan, 40 f . ; Athenian, 57, 59; 
Roman, 119 f. ; in mediaeval life, 
205 f. ; in Renaissance, 236; French, 
323-5; English, 349 f. ; in Latin 
America, 436; in industry, 448. 

Worms, Diet of, 293-5. 

Writing, Egyptian, 20 f. ; Babylonian, 
23 f. ; Minoan, 28, 31; Phoenician 
and Greek, 28. 

X-ray, 493. 

Yeomen, 261 f. ; decline of, 345 f. 
Young, Arthur, 392. 



Zeus, 46 f. 
Zoll'ver-ein, 430. 
Zoology, of Aristotle, 



78 ; Alexandrian, 



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